| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 外國語文學系碩博士班 === 93 === Existentialism was a widely discussed term and enjoyed a brief period of popularity during the post-war era. This philosophical movement, mainly through the works of Sartre, reached its peak during the 1940s. However, Sartre was not the first to touch on this fundamental question of human existence. Before him there were individual thinkers who had unconventionally responded to this essential question and explored existentialist themes, thereby paving the way for Sartrean existentialism in the mid-twentieth century. Among the most well-known predecessors, Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Jasper, and Martin Heidegger are especially noted. Kierkegaard, who is often regarded as the father of this movement, revealed the problems of existence in modern times. Heidegger, on the other hand, is considered a great thinker who gave an ontological meaning to the definition of human existence. Sartre, as the most famous existentialist, indeed inherited many ideas from his predecessors. His personal experiences combined with his philosophical training eventually made his existential theory an atheistic humanism—stressing choice, commitment and responsibility.
This thesis attempts to compare the central ideas behind the Western and Eastern concepts of human existence. The first chapter is an introduction to existentialism in general. In the second chapter, I will introduce Kierkegaardian and Heideggerian existential theories. In the third chapter, Sartrean existentialism is introduced with a theory-based discussion of his play No Exit. Sartre’s argument of “existentialism is a humanism” is also an important part of this discussion. In the fourth chapter, I will use the Confucian conception of Junzih to explain the Oriental spirit of human existence. Junzih is Confucius’ ideal man, whose virtues of ren, yi, jhih, yong, and cheng cover all the distinct traits of human existence proposed by existential thinkers. More importantly, the concept of junzih is sounder in comparison to existentialism with respect to ethics. I also introduce the ancient Chinese beliefs as Chinese quasi-existentialism and Confucianism as humanism. The last chapter is a conclusion of my findings.
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