EXISTENTIALISM AND PSYCHOLOGY

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Philosopher's Circle. The Philosopher's Circle attempts to
answer the most profound questions we all have in life.
It is your guide to the fundamental nature of existence, society,
and how we think. Join doctor Carlos as he discusses
philosophy with leading philosophers, theologians and more. And now here

(00:24):
is doctor Carlos.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome everybody. Today we're going to be looking at existentialism
and how to overlapse a little bit of psychology. Where
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Existentialism deals with the question of what it means to
exist as a human being. A existentialist believe that humans
have been thrown into this universe and therefore it is
existing in the w world and not consciousness that is

(00:49):
the ultimate reality. One of the key ideas of existentialism
is that the meaning of life and discovery oneself can
only be attained by free will, personal responsibility, and choice.
My sound familiar to you if you're a Nie Chee
fan or Satra. This is what they advocated. A person
as an individual who has ability to think, can act
independently should be defined by his actual life. It is

(01:11):
his own actions that define who he is. Existentialist philosophers
believe that all humans have free will. The ability to
have free will leads to life choices. Structures and values
of society have no control over a person, so you
can see that they also advocate for that internal locus
of control, which is a very common concept in Western culture,
which means that you determine the outcomes of your life

(01:33):
and not external factors such as luck or fate. Personal
choices are unique to every individual and are based on
outlook beliefs and experiences, not external forces or society. Based
on these choices, people to discover who and what they are.
There is no purpose for desires such as wealth, honor,
a pleasure, for these are not responsible for having a
good life. You got to remember too. In existentialism and

(01:56):
the concept of internal locus of control, sometimes it's really
relevant to therapy because a lot of psychologists and therapists
are trying to empower their clients so they can take
more control over themselves and over their life. The notion
of personal responsibility is another key component of existentialism. It
is entirely up to the individual to make decisions, and

(02:16):
these decisions are not without their own consequences and stress.
In today's society, we see a lot of deferring and
responsibility blaming in on organic issues. We were born with this,
we were born as an alcoholic, we were born with
whatever it is. And I'm not saying you weren't or
we're not, but you can see how society defers a
lot of responsibility. It was parenting that was the issue,

(02:37):
it was this that was an issue. However, it is
in the moments when an individual fights against his very
nature that he is at his best. In essence, the
very choices we make in life determine our nature, and
there are things in this world that are unnatural irrational.
Another concept that existentialists believe in is anxiety. Existentialists plays
great emphasis on moments when truth about our existence in nature,

(02:58):
bringing new awareness into what life means. These existential moments
of crises produce feelings of anxiety, angst, and dread, and
are the result of the freedom and independent responsibility we
all have. Because humans have been thrown into these universes,
may have high diggers kind of flashbacks here if you
listen to it, there is a certain meaningless to our existence.
Our freedom means we're uncertain of the future and our

(03:20):
lives are determined by the choices we make. In some
places or some people, A lot of times that freedom
can be anxious. We've saw that with the collapse of communism,
many many Russians developed a high degree of anxiety because
everything was given to them, and then when they were
given this freedom, they they didn't know what to do.
We believe we have an understanding about the universe around us,

(03:40):
and when we discover something that tells us differently, we
experience an existential crisis that forces us to re evaluate
aspects of our lives. The only way to have meaning
and values through making choices and taking responsibility. They have
another concept that will leave for another day, called authenticity.
To be authentic, one must be truly in harmony with
his freedom and existentialism. The notion of autensiticity means really

(04:03):
coming to terms with oneself and living accordingly. Though it
is today folks, taking choice, I mean taking responsibility, the
concept of free will, making those decisions and accepting the
outcomes of those decisions, and accepting that you made those choices.
This is the concept of existentialism. It's the concept of
a lot of psychological theories too. Thanks for listening.