Precis Presentation by KA

Thesis: In “The Idea of Death in Existentialism” J Glenn Gray argues, through the use of Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, that acknowledging death and the finality of human existence is the only way that one can live in truth and give meaning to an otherwise meaningless existence. [Read more…]

Existentialism, A Reaction to the Age of Organization Precis by GG

Abstract: The rise of highly bureaucratized large-scale organizations in the 20th century, caused by a need for social control through rationalism and technology, have dehumanized and alienated man into a submissive dependent. Existentialism is a philosophy of resistance against this rational collectivism, which interferes with man’s individual responsibility; such resistance liberates man from a part to a whole and safeguards democracy. [Read more…]

That Individual Precis by AL

Kierkegaard’s essay “That Individual” (1843) asserts that in order to find inner truth, one must disengage from the crowd (or the untruth) to become an individual. He illustrates why the crowd is untruth by first establishing the connection between man and God. When man approaches God as an individual, man is himself raised to the level of a God. Kierkegaard then refutes the claim that one is more likely to be successful as a part of the crowd. [Read more…]