Continental Philosophy

For the duration of the twentieth century, the reaction to philosophy took two diverse forms in both the English speaking countries and the European continent also. Following Hegel's work, the majority of people were enthused with two different types of customs. Analytic philosophy and its branches were the central traditions in both England and the United States. A large amount people on the English continent responded in a different way to Hegelian idealism. In countries that spoke English, Hegelian idealism was known as Continental philosophy. Analytic philosophy and pragmatism became decisively secured in the United States. Continental philosophy includes the following theories: critical theory, deconstruction, existentialism, hermeneutics and phenomenology.

Throughout the time of Continental philosophy, existentialism and phenomenology were very dominant. Both of these schools of thoughts are traced back to the nineteenth century to Socrates and pre-Socratic. Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre were the famous and significant Continental philosophers for the twentieth century. Heidegger was for the most part a phenomenologist and Sartre was mainly an existentialist. These two men were very involved in Continental philosophy.

"There are several main themes of existentialism and they are as follows: traditional and academic philosophy are barren and isolated from the concerns of real life; Philosophy must focus on the individual in his/her argument with the world; the world is illogical; the world is incongruous, in the sense that no details can be given for why it is the way it is; ridiculous, worthless, insignificant, disjointing and unable to converse permeate human existence giving birth to nervousness, terror, hesitation and misery. The character conforms as the most significant truth of human existence, There is a necessity to choose how he or she is to live inside this strange and unreasonable world. The existentialists do not guarantee that this existential predicament, as it might be called, can be solved," (Moore-Bruder, 2006, p.160). The existentialists believe that without being completely truthful in confronting your issues, life would have no value at all.

Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche were nineteenth century philosophers that rejected Hegelian idealism; but, both men anticipated important themes of existentialism. Albert Camus was an skeptic, French existentialist writer. He believed that individuals live and die without seeing themselves as they actually are.

Jean-Paul Sartre was an atheistic. Sartre believed that God does not exist. He believed that there was no maker of man, divine conception and human nature. Sartre believed "existence precedes essence" and that you are what you make yourself. Friedrich Nietzsche believed that the world is driven and determined by the will-to-power. Soren Kierkegard was worried