Existentialism: origins, meaning and implications

EXISTENTIALISM: ORIGINS, MEANING AND IMPLICATIONS

Emeritus Associate Professor Rik De Decker, paediatric cardiologist and clinical geneticist, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town

Monday 27–Wednesday 29 January  7.00 pm  COURSE FEES R330; Staff and students R165

Few topics in philosophy have more immediacy than existentialism. Its many proponents and eminent thinkers address the most fundamental questions asked by all thinking humans and religions, but – unlike religions – do so without self-certainty or prescription.

Questions addressed will be as follows: What are we, how did we become us, where are we, are there other sentient beings in the Universe? What does it mean to be human, what may become of us? Are there alterable determinants of our destiny that may affect – individually – each of our ultimate destinies? Will it ever end, and if so, when and how?

The first lecture will focus on the original faith-based explanations of humanity’s quest for understanding our existence, its leading proponents, and the historical-philosophical context. It will also explore religion-based narratives of existence and their context in the history of human conflict.

In the second lecture the origins of the questioning of faith-based narratives of humanity’s existence – primarily through fictional literature – and its consequences will be explored.

Finally, the impact of accurate archaeological, historical, geological and scientific discovery and insights on the meaning and relevance of existentialism in the modern world will be discussed, as well as how science continues to strengthen arguments of much existentialist literature.

Lecture titles

Faith
Fiction
Facts

Recommended reading

Camus, A. 2013. The Myth of Sisyphus. United Kingdom: Penguin Books Limited. Heidegger, M. 1962. Being and Time. United Kingdom: Basil Blackwell.

Kierkegaard, S. 2013. Either/Or, Part II. United States: Princeton University Press. Nietzsche, F. 1974. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. United Kingdom: Penguin Books Limited. Sartre, J. 1948. Existentialism and Humanism. United Kingdom: Methuen.

Sartre, J. 1992. Being and Nothingness. United States: Washington Square Press.

TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/performance.aspx?itemid=1554785486

Rik De Decker initially trained as a zoologist, later obtaining his MBChB training at UCT. He specialised in General Paediatrics, and double subspecialised in Paediatric Cardiology and Clinical Genetics. He was Consultant Clinical Geneticist in the Division of Human Genetics, University of Cape Town between 2003-2005. He was employed as Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Memorial Hospital from 2006 until retirement in 2023. In 2015 he was appointed as Director of the Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory at Red Cross Children’s Hospital. He is a member of the Mountain Club of South Africa, Co-convener of MCSA Mountain Rescue (Cape Town Section). Current South African representative of the MCSA Mountain Rescue team on ICAR MedCom (https://icar-med.com).