DE Weekly: The History, Development, and Precursors of Existentialism
While it is true that Existentialism arguably did not cement itself as a real, solidified philosophy until the twentieth century, its core tenets were explored and espoused over the centuries preceding the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, who organized it into a cohesive school of thought.
I have written about how certain ideas we would today call “existentialist” in nature can be found as far back as Aristotle’s time, can be gleaned from theologians such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, and were present in the work of Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and others.
DE Weekly: Kierkegaard, Surrender, & the Leap of Faith
“Who am I, and what is my fate?” In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about how existentialism sought to answer this question through examining all facets of existence. I introduced the French philosopher and Catholic theologian Blaise Pascal, and his philosophical argument commonly referred to as “Pascal’s wager.”
To refresh your mind (or to catch you up to speed), Pascal’s wager is an argument that posits we, as humans, engage in a gamble regarding the existence of and our belief in God, a belief which ultimately defines our fate.
DE Weekly: Pensées, Reason, & Pascal’s Wager
Existentialism has arrested the thoughts of readers because the questions it poses are fundamental to our existence. Joining all questions into one, readers are forced to ask themselves, “Who am I, and what is my fate?”
Centuries before the existentialist authors we normally think of came around, a French philosopher and Catholic theologian named Blaise Pascal lived and wrote on the same existential questions.