Philosophical Perspectives on Human Existence: Descartes to Post-Structuralism
Rene Descartes
Descartes posits that fundamental existence stems from the thinking, self-aware subject (res cogitans). His method, methodical doubt, leads to the indubitable conclusion: “I think, therefore I am” (Cogito, ergo sum). This opens the philosophy of the subject and philosophical modernity.
Descartes distinguishes between the thinking soul (res cogitans) and the material body (res extensa). The soul’s primary attribute is rational thought; rationality is the essence of being human. The soul is natural, timeless, and universal, unlike other worldly things. Awareness of rational thinking ability is unique to humans.
The body’s primary attribute is extension, occupying physical space.
Kant and the Enlightenment
Kant’s view of man is marked by anthropological optimism. He considers humans as objects among objects but also as intentional agents, a property of the soul.
Kant identifies three key questions regarding the soul:
- Thinking: What can I know? (Epistemology)
- Wishing: What should I do? (Morality)
- Meaning: What can I hope for? (Theology and Philosophy of History)
These questions are summarized as: What is man? Crucially, humans should be considered ends in themselves, not means to an end.
Karl Marx
For Marx, the essence of man is work. Labor is a source of misery for the proletariat and creates value for the bourgeoisie. Marx explains this through the concept of alienation:
Types of alienation:
- Economic Alienation of Work: Manifests in three ways:
- Activity Alienation: Work done for another.
- Object Alienation: The worker doesn’t own what they produce; another benefits.
- Social Alienation: Division between those who produce, the exploited, and those who appropriate the products, the owners.
- Other Alienations: Ideological, religious, and intellectual.
Marx proposes communism to end this: an economic system eliminating class division, reuniting humans with their essence – the ability to develop their capacities through work.
F. Nietzsche
Nietzsche declares that God is dead, along with all transcendent categories of the real world (e.g., the Good, Reason, Liberty). These categories have unduly occupied the center of thought.
Nietzsche argues that these categories are not a priori but are the result of historical impositions. He advocates for a historical deconstruction of these categories and their origins, a method called historical legacies.
In short, man has no fixed essence; this concept has served to impose values and enslave Western man. Nietzsche envisions overcoming this through the arrival of a Superman, a creator of their own values.
Sartre
Sartre’s premise begins with the absence of God, with significant implications for man:
- Human morality lacks external references; individuals are thus “homeless” in the world and must define themselves.
- Humans are defined not by essence but by existence:
- No a priori human nature.
- No universal goals or criteria dictate what man should be.
- Man is created through action: existence precedes essence.
- Man is condemned to be free, to take charge of their own life project.
- Man is aware of their freedom but sometimes acts in bad faith.
By eliminating God, Sartre places man at the center of history and the world.
Post-Sartrean Philosophical Developments:
- Existentialism (Martin Heidegger): Shifts focus from the human subject to existential prioris (time, space, etc.).
- Marxism (Louis Althusser): The true subject of history is not man but the social class struggle.
- Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud): The unconscious shapes subjectivity more decisively than awareness.
- Structuralism (Claude Lévi-Strauss): Language and culture are constitutive prioris to man.
- Ecologism: Ecosystems are central; man is one component.
- Systems Theory (Niklas Luhmann): Social systems’ dynamics, not individuals, are the true agents of social change.
F. Nietzsche
Nietzsche declares that God is dead, along with all transcendent categories of the real world (e.g., the Good, Reason, Liberty). These categories have unduly occupied the center of thought.
Nietzsche argues that these categories are not a priori but are the result of historical impositions. He advocates for a historical deconstruction of these categories and their origins, a method called historical legacies.
In short, man has no fixed essence; this concept has served to impose values and enslave Western man. Nietzsche envisions overcoming this through the arrival of a Superman, a creator of their own values.
Sartre
Sartre’s premise begins with the absence of God, with significant implications for man:
- Human morality lacks external references; individuals are thus “homeless” in the world and must define themselves.
- Humans are defined not by essence but by existence:
- No a priori human nature.
- No universal goals or criteria dictate what man should be.
- Man is created through action: existence precedes essence.
- Man is condemned to be free, to take charge of their own life project.
- Man is aware of their freedom but sometimes acts in bad faith.
By eliminating God, Sartre places man at the center of history and the world.
Post-Sartrean Philosophical Developments:
- Existentialism (Martin Heidegger): Shifts focus from the human subject to existential prioris (time, space, etc.).
- Marxism (Louis Althusser): The true subject of history is not man but the social class struggle.
- Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud): The unconscious shapes subjectivity more decisively than awareness.
- Structuralism (Claude Lévi-Strauss): Language and culture are constitutive prioris to man.
- Ecologism: Ecosystems are central; man is one component.
- Systems Theory (Niklas Luhmann): Social systems’ dynamics, not individuals, are the true agents of social change.