Phenomenology and Existentialism

'Existence precedes essence' - This phrase was coined by Sartre, and is central to the existentialist outlook. Rather than believing we have some sort of preconceived human nature within each of us, existentialism believes that all that matters is our existence, and we are free to create meaning for ourselves, to create our own essence. As I've written before, existentialism is all about making your own choices, and the freedom you have to do so. 

The approach of cartesian dualism is rejected and reconfigured, believing that rather than 'I think, therefore I am', 'I am therefore I think' is better, which then reduces to 'I think', which further reduces to 'there are thoughts'. 

In his 'Critique of pure reason', Kant argued that consciousness 'just is', it is not in itself proof of existence. You cannot stand outside of consciousness. Kant examined both noumena and phenomena, however existentialism focuses solely on phenomena, hence 'phenomenology'. The noumena, or external world, is not disregarded, it is simply of no concern to philosophers, according to existentialists. 

Phenomenology originates from Husserl, who drew a line between psychology and epistemology. Husserl argued that consciousness could be divided into two types, physical phenomena such as colours and smells, and mental phenomena, thoughts and their content. This is an approach taken from the work of Brentano.

This mental phenomena is characterised by its 'intentionality', that they are directed towards objects outside of the mind. Husserl concerned himself only with the texture of thoughts, rather than their origins. It mattered not whether the thought was a dream or our 'reality', the thoughts still formed a part of our consciousness, and he determined that all that exists is the present tense of our consciousness. Husserl claimed that we must categorise these thoughts and experiences, whilst not concerning ourselves with their origin. 'Bracketing' was the way to gain information about our consciousness. Whether you deem the thought to be 'real' or not does not matter, all that matters is your experience of it, as we can not truly know what is 'real'. This is the basis of the 'phenomenological reduction'. If I see a dog with two heads, my intentionality towards it is the same, despite the fact I may not believe that two headed dogs exist. 

For Husserl, thought must have two things; content and a possessor. 

Heidegger concerned himself with the question of 'being'. He argued that thinking is just one way of engaging with the world, and that acting upon it is equally important. Dasein, or being in the world, was key to Heidegger's approach. Dasein is not about thinking, but about acting on those thoughts, about caring rather than considering, and is relative to the individual. Heidegger believed that through Dasein, one could reach complete absorption, which gives complete freedom and authenticity, as true dasein ignores the past and future, focussing only on that moment. 

The future is more important in defining oneself than the past, as we do not dictate our own facticity, we cannot choose where we were born for example, or how we were raised. This is our facticity, and we cannot change it, however we have the power to dictate our own future. This school of thought defines existentialism, that the future is more important than the past, and that the most important thing is our next choice. 

Sartre's central argument is that human existence is defined by the capability of choice, as summed up in his quote 'existence precedes essence'. We are condemned to be free, and must make our own choices, not fall into a preconceived role, for that is bad faith.