The notion of existence in phenomenology

Abstract

Since the 19th century, the existential problems in which we are situated as
a personal existence have been thematised in the works of Søren Kierkegaard
and others. With the formation of existential phenomenology – in Martin
Heidegger and French phenomenologists such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty
– a distinctive experience-based approach is offered for analysing existence.
We outline notions of existence that have been asserted in existential
phenomenology. They are about authenticity versus alienation in modern
life, and they ultimately converge in uncovering a universal, bodily form of
reason, the so-called ‘intentionality’. An in-depth analysis of psychosocial
and socio-cultural conditions in the modern lifeworld cannot occur without thematising how these conditions are involved with the bodily basis of human existence. We highlight aspects of human existence that are very often
overlooked today, namely the collective aspects and the anonymous aspects
of existence. These aspects call for theoretical and empirical attention, just
as personal existence does. Guiding works could be Hannah Arendt’s account
of the basic natural conditions for human existence, Jan Patocka’s
focus on existence as the realisation of significant potentials in human life,
and Paul Ricoeur’s discussion of the identity-creating relationships between
experienced history and narrative history. In an anthropological conception
of the being of the human, the article summarises existential phenomenology’s
understanding of existence. Finally, the relevance is outlined of this
understanding to applied psychology, especially social psychological and
clinical-psychological areas.