Introducción al existencialismo

by Nicola Abbagnano

La filosofia è un lavoro di indagine fondato sulla natura stessa dell’uomo in quanto pura esistenza. In questo volume il grande filosofo Nicola Abbagnano affronta le questioni che concernono “l’essere” del singolo uomo, partendo dalla sua autentificazione fino alla costituzione dell’io, per comprendere quell’atteggiamento strettamente personale, intimo e segreto che è il filosofare. La filosofia non avrà forse l’universalità della scienza, che consiste nell’identità del giudizio, ma il suo continuo porsi domande, la sua necessità di comprensione e il suo muoversi verso il futuro costituiscono un’universalità fondata sulla solidarietà umana, che può esplicarsi solo nella genuina struttura dell’esistenza di ognuno. Alla filosofia l’uomo può e deve chiedere di comprendere un po’ meglio se stesso. Questa è la base, il fondamento, di ogni opera e di ogni lavoro umani, la trama con cui è tessuta la vita quotidiana del singolo, così come la vita storica dell’umanità. Le esperienze più dure, i dolori e le tragedie non servirebbero a nulla se gli uomini non dovessero derivarne un insegnamento, che la filosofia sola può formulare, traendo dalle vicende della storia l’incentivo per una più profonda e più umana comprensione dell’uomo.

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Leading Italian existentialist, Abbagnano studied in Naples and taught at Turin. His ‘philosophy of the possible’ condemned other existentialists for either denying human possibility (because all our efforts are futile in a hostile and meaningless universe) or exaggerating it, imagining us capable of things which actually lie outside our potential. In his later work he tended to adopt a more naturalistic and scientific approach to philosophy, although still condemning the ‘myth of security’ implicit in a complacent scientific world view. His major works include the monumental three-volume Storia della filosofia (‘History of Philosophy’, 1946–50) and Possibilità e libertà (‘Possibility and Liberty’, 1956).

Reviews

[Miguel Cisneros Saucedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Philosophy is not justified as a work of rational inquiry, but it is recognized to be founded on the very nature of man as existence.
For Abbagnano, philosophy means not to limit oneself to elaborating scientific concepts, nor to devise rational systems, but to choose, decide, commit oneself, be passionate, in short, to live authentically and to be authentically oneself. Existentialism's critique of Science and Rationalism aims to re-establish the full consciousness of reflecting on freedom from every system. The deeper the self-reflection of freedom, the greater the prominence of existence. The man who does not reflect on himself does not actualize the proper unity of his personality, but remains anonymous and renounces his freedom, which is limited only to the choice of recognizing his limitations, failures, and sins.
Abbagnano gives us the example of an artist. Imagine an artist who has not made the free choice to express himself by any means, and therefore has not created anything. Under the existentialist perspective, this artist has failed in the realization of his own existence, as well as in the creation of a platform or medium that offers other people the possibility of understanding and reflecting on themselves.

Existentialism then establishes a duty to the human being to express himself through art as a means of self-reflection with the aim of understanding himself. The decision lies, then, in the norm of the constitution of man in his authenticity through self-reflection.
Philosophy is thus defined not as a scientific inquiry that turns out to be indifferent and objective, but it is the search that the singular individual makes of what is his own, whether it is a book, a song, or a painting, in short, the search for anything that presents him with a choice against which the human being must decide to suspend his prejudices and appropriate what reaffirms his personality.

For Kierkegaard, for instance, the single individual creates his relationship with his own existence. The individual brings his subjectivity into connection with what he is. Not only that, but he turns inward and engages in self-reflection, and he finally becomes authentic.
Take, for example, lies. We think that they feel real when we don't examine them. The only way to know what's real and what's true is to invest ourselves in it. It's only when we do this that we realize that some beliefs that we hold are actually strange. We don't really know when something is real until we feel it. So, how do we grasp the truth? What is the truth for every single one of us? And how are we relating to it?.

If the existence of any individual is summarized in order to highlight its decisive moments, the impression we receive could not be more fantastic. The critical moments of each person's life have a completely different meaning from those experienced in the life of any other person, whether due to differences in age, sex, gender, culture, language, and so on. Well, at this time, human existence does nothing but oscillate and confuse everything. In Kafka's short stories one often encounters single individuals who go from embarking on their own investigations to being completely transformed into beings who lack all control. That's the process of life under existentialist terms. A passionate transformation. To illustrate this, let's take for example Kafka's "The Chinese Wall". Within those brief stories, we find one story about a dog. The short story begins with a dog who recounts a number of episodes from its life, using scientific and rational methods to resolve basic questions of its existence that most of the other dogs are content to leave unanswered, such as: Where do humans get their food?. Now, the dog is shocked one day by witnessing dogs standing on their legs and performing to music. In this way, it is intended to challenge the beliefs of the reader to force him to reflect on himself about the absurdity of life.

Figuring out what existence is for you is part of what existence is. Life is not the result of any logical argument, because there is no calculation, no premises, no graphs, no equations, and no experiments in your daily life choices. Your reasons for believing something are entirely subjective and intimate. You have privileged access to such reasons by an act of self-awareness and self-reflection. No one has, and will never have, access to your innermost thoughts.

Abbagnano continues: "What I really must do is what I must be. But to be me I must make mine what is beyond myself...". Which would be, in short, and in Christian terms, to make mine or to appropriate the justice satisfied upon Jesus through the legal imputation of my sins upon Him. Being sinful is, according to Abbagnano, dispersion, superficiality, abandonment, letting oneself be carried away by the current, numbness, and incapacity, in short, is the inability to dominate and fulfill oneself. Overcoming sin, that is, that which impedes the constitution and actuality of my personality is only possible with the choice to recognize excesses, failures, and such, through self-reflection and acceptance of the limited nature of man. Sin must be accepted because it must be recognized as belonging to the very essence of human existence. In conclusion, moral and social norms are then suspended and replaced by the duty to recognize sin and to appropriate the justice poured out on the cross because of sin itself.

[Arnulfo Novo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lenguaje rebuscadísimo, redundante, habla muy poco de lo que es el existencialismo como corriente filosófica. De los 7 capítulos, únicamente 2 me parecieron interesantes, lo demás es paja de temas que no tienen conexión y opiniones que no aportan nada. No lo recomiendo para nada.

[Efrén Reyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es una trampa

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro más expositorio que explicativo de lo que significa el existencialismo, que creo que se pude resumir en la libertad del ser humano frente a la vida y el ser con todo lo que esto conlleva. Va llevando al lector poco a poco dentro de la postura del exitencialismo (y la liberta de elección frente a sus problemáticas) contra varios dilemas, la postura del humano contra si mismo, el mundo, el arte, e incluso a pocas palabras, la moral. Creo que pudo haberse adentrado un poco más en ciertos conceptos y explicaciones más que en largas explicaciones, pero me pareció una lectura interesante, más que nada cuando aborda el tema del hombre frente a la necesidad de ser parte del mundo para explicarse a si mismo y no rehuir de él que es también reuír de si mismo. Aún así creo a la par de otros que han comentado, que sobre extiende varios temas que pudieron haber sido explicados más concretamente, igual una lectura interesante.

[Víctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leí este libro en el 2004. Fue un logro para mi recorrer sus páginas de cabo a rabo, ya que era el primer libro de filosofía que leía, carecía de las nociones necesarias para su completa comprensión. Pero aún así me acompañó y me enseñó algo que necesitaba en ese momento: encarar con valentía la existencia. Tiempo después perdí el libro.

Recorriendo la feria del libro viejo y de ocasión de A Coruña, me topé con la misma edición que tenía (de 1975) y lo compré. Más por motivos emocionales que por darle una nueva lectura. Pero nunca se sabe.

[Odin Martinez Takekawa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro bastante complicado, más que nada por el tipo de lenguaje que utiliza, hay temas interesantes. Creo que para conocer un poco el existencialismo y algunos de sus conceptos es bastante bueno. Recomiendo darle una oportunidad, no es un libro para todos, pero sin duda aporta un punto de vista bastante interesante.

[Patricio Fernandez aldrete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hace un recorrido por muchas posturas existencialistas y trata de argumentar la suya. Desafortunadamente no logra concretarla al final.

[Edgar Francisco]

Great

[Kary Magdai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fue demasiado para mí que no tengo formación en estos temas, mejor hubiera empezado con títulos más para mortales como yo…

[Carmen Fernández · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bueno... Me sirvió para leer italiano, no lo mejor en la materia, pero estaba interesante. En parte me ha gustado, pero tendría que releerlo. No sé.

[Sofía Arenas Vejar · Rating 1 out of 5]

FOME

[Wave To Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ta bueno, aunque a veces me perdía un poco con algunas palabras y conceptos que no entendía del todo, pero supongo que es parte de adentrarse al mundo de la lectura 🧍‍♂️👏👏