Continental Philosophys Existentialism and Phenomenology - Essay Example

Hegel heavily believed in Pantheism and attributed this to the absolute spirit; basically, Hegel believed that God was in everything. This belief is a reflection of a Romantic view, and was a movement in the 19th-century indirect result of the Industrial Revolution occurring in Europe (Hegel 1991). . First, existentialist ideas will be discussed.

Many of these themes were introduced by Arthur Schopenhauer, Soren Kierkegaard, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Existentialism believed that philosophy focuses on the individual and that individual's interactions with the world. For example, Nietzche, a Continental philosopher, did not agree with Hegel's concept of idealism. Nietzche firmly felt the world is controlled by will-to-power. Furthermore, Nietzche also disagreed with Hegel on the concept of absolute truth; Nietzche did not believe in absolute truth, he felt that everything was open to one's own interpretation.

This is far different from Hegel's notion that the individual must look inward, to the self. Another concept promoted by existentialism that conflicts with Hegel's notions is the existentialist idea that the world itself is an absurd place, and there is no description for why the world acts in this way. Furthermore, existentialists believe that this inability for humans to understand why the world is chaotic causes self-doubt, and therefore individuals have to decide how to live and progress in this type of chaotic world.

Hegel, being a pantheist, would have seen some order in the world, as reflected in the idea that God is in everything. He would not have agreed with the concepts of a chaotic world causing self-doubt. Hegel did not accept the existentialist concept of the "thing-in-itself." He believed that reality was a reflection of thought and rationality. Thus, the reality was not a collection of separate specifics; instead, it functioned like an articulate system of thinking, like mathematics; forming one large whole which pieces are all connected.