The Possibility of Existential Ethics: A Review and Analysis

Document Type : Original Article

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Philosophy Researcher

10.22091/jes.2024.10744.1007

Abstract

Abstract
The question of whether existential ethics is possible or impossible has always been a subject of debate and controversy. This issue carries particular significance due to the existentialists' reputation for individualism and subjectivism, as they argue that only the individual is the ultimate decision-maker in objective situations. Sartre explicitly defends this stance; however, to address criticism labeling it as uncritical or even relativistic, he introduces the concept of the “intersubjective world.” While attempting to adhere to universal ethics to some extent and distance himself from moral anarchism, he appears to remain suspended between objectivism and subjectivism. In contrast, Kierkegaard, rooted in subjectivism, suspends morality explicitly within the religious realm, asserting that the individual (in relation to God) stands above the universal, exemplifying the paradox of faith. For Kierkegaard, Abraham represents a unique case as the knight of faith, facing an immense test with unwavering faith and submitting to inner morality “for His sake and for his own sake.”
 

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فهرست منابع
ادواردز، پل. (1392). دانشنامۀ فلسفۀ اخلاق. (ترجمه: انشااللّه رحمتی). تهران: نشر صوفیا.
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