Continental Philosophy

Paper Summary:

This paper puts forward various philosophical arguments from well known philosophers such as Georg Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. The author also explains how the existentialist challenge launched on Hegelian idealism is not complete without the existentialist icons of the 20th century, Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.

From the Paper:

"Hegel's idealism, which can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosophers, was seriously questioned starting with the 19th century and the essential works of Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard, only to continue with Nietzsche and the phenomenology school in the last part of the 19th century and for much of the 20th century. The existentialist school of which these philosophers were part of launched the revolutionary idea that existence precedes the essence and that the human being exists before it starts defining itself. The assumption of existence as the core concept of their philosophical system brought about the anguish of existential loneliness, the negation of Divinity and the challenge of the individual's existence. Moving on from Hegel's alienation, existentialists and phenomenologists were able to make revolutionary changes to perceptions."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Sayers, Sean (2003). The Concept of Alienation in Existentialism and Marxism Hegelian Themes in Modern Social Thought. On the Internet at http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/philosophy/staff/sayers/alienation.pdf. Last retrieved on March 2, 2008
• Continental Philosophy. (2008). On the Internet at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/550331/continental_philosophy.html?page=2. Last retrieved on March 2, 2008

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