existentialism

Examples of existentialism in the following topics:

• Definitions of Religion

  • Another definition of religion among social scientists (particularly social psychologists) views religion as any attempt to answer existential questions (e.g., 'Is there life after death?).
  • For instance, using this definition, someone who attends religious services weekly but makes no attempt to answer existential questions would not be considered religious.
  • At the other extreme, an atheist who believes that existence ends with physical death, would be considered religious because he/she has attempted to answer a key existential question.

• The Elements of Religion

  • Other social scientists view religion as any attempt to answer existential questions, i.e.
  • Many branches of scientific investigation, for instance, would be considered religious, and even atheism would fit into the frame of attempting to answer existential questions.

• Evaluation of Psychological Therapy Options

  • Forms of therapy include, but are not limited to: psychoanalytic, gestalt, existential, person-centered, reality, Adlerian, transactional analysis, rational-emotive behavior, and behavior therapies.
  • Existential therapy rejects traditional therapeutic approaches and focuses on themes relating to what it means to be human, such as: self-awareness, self-determination, responsibility, existential anxiety, death and non-being, aloneness, relatedness, the search for meaning, and the search for authenticity.
  • One limitation and criticism of existential therapy is that it is difficult to put into practice because it deals with such subjective and abstract concepts.

• European Postwar Expressionism

  • More concerned with the philosophical and cultural movement of Existentialism, European artists grappled with the meaning of the figure and its isolated, individual experience of the world.
  • This painting by Bacon exemplifies a figurative portrayal of existential and individual angst that European Expressionists typically display in their work.

• Humanistic Psychology

  • Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that rose to prominence in the mid-20th century, drawing on the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology, as well as Eastern philosophy.
  • Rollo May (1909–1994) was the best known American existential psychologist, and differed from other humanistic psychologists by showing a sharper awareness of the tragic dimensions of human existence.

• The Value of Spirituality and Faith in Managing Stress

  • All forms of prayer, meditation, and existential contemplation activate centers in the brain that are implicated in relaxation and peacefulness, which lowers levels of experienced stress.
  • Spirituality and faith work together to produce experiences of otherworldliness and existentialism in human life, allowing the individual to confront the unknown and unknowable in a personal way.

• Religion and Social Support

• Individualism

  • Liberalism, existentialism and anarchism are examples of movements that take the human individual as a central unit of analysis.

• Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective on Personality

  • Humanistic psychology has its roots in existentialism, behaviorism, and phenomenology.

• Functions of Religion

  • Given this approach, Durkheim proposed that religion has three major functions in society: it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions.