EHTP 2055 - Existential Psychology and Philosophy

Existentialism has its beginnings in the deepest recesses of recorded time. It begins with wonder or awe (what the philosopher Gabriel Marcel once called "the mystery of being") and, also, anxiety or dread. All who have pondered in earnest what it means to be briefly alive on a planet that spins around ceaselessly without verifiable destination or import have partaken, wittingly or otherwise, of the existential inquiry and quest. "Where have I come from? What am I doing here and where am I going? What and whom do I value and love? What is possible in the way of becoming or self-creation? And what, given an apparently makeshift setup, is possible for the greater world?" These are the bedrock preoccupations of existentialism. It is, in a sense, a sensibility more than a codified theory or system. In addition, it has been wryly observed that the one thing that bound its founding spirits together was their disavowal of the term. The 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was pervasively existential in his themes: Who am I? How did I come into the world? Why was I not consulted? ... Moreover, if I am to be compelled to take part in it, where is the director? I should like to make a remark to him. Is there no director? Whither shall I turn with my complaint? This, of course, is only one aspect of the story. Kierkegaard, despite the brevity of his life, left behind astonishing works of philosophical, literary, and spiritual genius that continue to shock and mesmerize discerning minds. Existentialism at its most sublime is typified by a feeling for the uncanny, even paradoxical, nature of things. "The ultimate paradox," muses Rollo May, "is that negation becomes affirmation." In this course, we shall survey the landscape of existential psychology with an especial eye to the rarified body of philosophy by which it has been underwritten and inspired. 3 credit(s)

Add to Portfolio.

Close Window