Existentialism It Is Difficult to Term Paper

Of all the changes that I would feel if I were to embrace an existential philosophy, the most profound change would be that I would lose my empathy. Right now, I firmly believe in individual choice. However, I also believe that people's choices are shaped and changed by their histories. Therefore, I believe that people should be judged by their actions, but that those actions have to be taken in context of the entire life of the individual. Making all actions an effect of personal choice would prevent me from feeling empathy for those that I find to be unethical.

Having looked at the changes that embracing existentialism would have on my life, I am able to determine that existentialism is not the philosophy for me. I am far too social and empathetic of a person to believe that people are essentially alone in this world.Furthermore, I believe in less dependence in romantic relationship than I believe would be created if I embraced an existential philosophy. However, there are some elements of existentialism that appeal to me. One element that I have embraced is that, if I desire to achieve immortality, I have to work during my lifetime to make a lasting impact. That challenge has fueled me to increase my social connections and increase my impact on the life of others, which has moved me even further away from existentialism.

Works Cited

Banach, David. "The Ethics of Absolute Freedom." David Banach. 2005. St. Anselm College. 13

Mar. 2005 http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/sartrelecture.htm.

Existentialism." Wikipedia. 2005. Wikipedia. 13 Mar. 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism.

Wyatt, C.S. "Existential Lexicon." The Existential Primer. 2005. Tameri. 13 Mar. 2005 http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/ex_lexicon.html......