There certainly seems to be a theme throughout the majority of the existentialist literature that I have read up to this point. While none of them have been explicitly religious, quite the opposite actually, many of them still include premises that include some type of higher power, either in support of or against. I feel that this theme is the result of what existentialism, and philosophy in general, is trying to resolve within the human consciousness, a being understanding being. Take the simple existence of the ant, for example. The ant, with it’s significantly reduced cognitive ability as compared to your average human, does not have the capability for complex philosophical thought. The ant, although it performs a tremendous amount of physical work for its size and lives a considerably long time compared to other insects, will never recognize it’s own being. The ant will never question why there is something rather than nothing, or if there is a higher power, and while this may seem almost desirable for those who would prefer to live without the deep existential anguish that these questions can cause, this does not change the fact that we as humans are self conscious mammals, curious about our own existence. Jean-Paul Sartre follows in this theme of existentialism as a being attempting to understand existence in Existentialism is Humanism, where Sartre suggests that, if there is no higher power with knowledge of our essence, that we, as humans, are a being that has it’s own existence come before its essence. In effect, we are born into consciousness without a knowledge of our own essence or as Sartre put it, human nature. Because we had to exist before we could have knowledge of our essence, we use philosophy and existentialism to attempt to understand what we ourselves are. This search for understanding is what leads so many to religious faith, however it is also what leads people to higher philosophy, and this root cause is what leads to the seeming intertwinedness of the two schools of thought.
Ryan, after reading your blog post, I am rather curious on how you feel about Sartre's notion of existence preceding essence and where your beliefs stand in regards to Sartre. Although Sartre is an atheistic existentialism, I find myself agreeing with or at least fascinated with his beliefs and thought process despite the fact that I do believe in a God. As we move further into Sartre's work, I feel like more and more of his beliefs bring up great questions about life (I do not want to give a spoiler if you are not familiar with his texts so I will be vague) and many of which I find myself accepting despite his and I's contrast in religious beliefs. This is why I wonder how you feel about the subject of religion meeting with existentialism? I do agree with you that a lot of what Existentialism is about or at least how I understand it, is based on a being searching for the meaning of being or even in a more literally sense, understanding existence through our freedom and responsibility as beings. The difficulty of understanding existence completely is exactly why I think Existentialism is a philosophy that still has not been fully grasped or mastered.
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