Philosophy 255 - Existentialism

Is life absurd? Do human beings really want to be free? Or do we prefer to sacrifice our freedom for comfort and amusement? Is God dead? Is it possible to live without religious belief? These are among the central questions about human life raised by existentialist thinkers. We will discuss these issues, and many others, through careful reading works of literature and philosophy by such important existentialists as Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Franz Fanon, and Samuel Beckett. In addition, we will consider how the existentialists' ideas are reflected in films.