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Existentialism : Existentialism And Existentialism

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Subjectivity in Existentialism is a Humanism
In Existentialism is a humanism, French philosopher and existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre defends existentialism from 20th century critics who believed that its overly subjective nature promotes anguish, abandonment, and despair. Sartre explains these common misconceptions about existentialism and argues that it is not a pessimist point of view, but the complete opposite. In what follows, I will explain how Sartre not only invalidates the surging misconceptions, but how he also turns his explanation into an optimistic and humanitarian work.

During the 20th century, many philosophers including Communists and Christians were criticizing a surging attitude commonly known as “existentialism”. Communists, for example, argued that the emphasis that existentialism has on individual choice leads to contemplation rather than to action. Christians reproached the way that existentialists overlook the dignity that originates from being created from the image of God. Also, publics viewed subjectivity in existentialism as a bad thing because if human values originate from subjective human choices, then all human action is arbitrary. They argued that from one 's own subjective point of view, whatever one does is the right thing. Therefore, this creates the notion that life does not have predetermined values. In other words: to an existentialist, there is no such thing as a standard of values because there is no God or perfect being to

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