View source for Philosophy:Philosophy of life

[[File:Dilthey1-4.jpg|thumb|200px|Wilhelm Dilthey]]

A '''philosophy of life''' is any general attitude towards, or philosophical view of, the [[Philosophy:Meaning of life|meaning of life]] or of the way life should be lived.<ref>{{unbulleted list|{{cite dictionary|title=Philosophy of life|dictionary=Collins English Dictionary|year=2019|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers}}|{{cite dictionary|title=Philosophy of life|dictionary=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary|publisher=Merriam-Webster|access-date=September 29, 2020|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/philosophy%20of%20life }}}}</ref> The term is generally used in an informal sense, meaning a personal philosophy whose focus is resolving basic existential questions about the [[Philosophy:Human condition|human condition]] rather than an academic philosophical endeavour.<ref>Timothy Fetler, ''Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion Charts'', Sun Press, 1968.</ref>  

The term also refers to a specific conception of philosophizing as a [[Social:Lifestyle (sociology)|way of life]],<ref name="Hadot">[http://www.iep.utm.edu/hadot/ Pierre Hadot (1922-2010)] by Matthew Sharpe in the [[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].</ref> endorsed by the German ''[[Philosophy:Lebensphilosophie|Lebensphilosophie]]'' movement whose main representative is [[Biography:Wilhelm Dilthey|Wilhelm Dilthey]]<ref>Scott Campbell, Paul W. Bruno (eds.), ''The Science, Politics, and Ontology of Life-Philosophy'', Bloomsbury, 2013, p. 8.</ref> and several other continental philosophers such as [[Biography:Henri Bergson|Henri Bergson]]<ref>Michael Chase, Stephen R. L. Clark, Michael McGhee (eds.), ''Philosophy as a Way of Life: Ancients and Moderns – Essays in Honor of Pierre Hadot'', John Wiley & Sons, 2013, p. 107.</ref> and [[Biography:Pierre Hadot|Pierre Hadot]].<ref name="Hadot"/>

==The human situation==
{{prose|section|date=April 2013}}

The human situation appears to be a struggle between what ''is'' (existence) and what ''ought'' (essence) to be.
* Normative situations&nbsp;– [[Philosophy:Alternative lifestyle|Alternatives]], [[Choice]], [[Philosophy:Liberty|Freedom]], Values, Standards, [[Philosophy:Ideal (ethics)|Ideals]], [[Philosophy:Obligation|Obligation]], [[Philosophy:Moral responsibility|Responsibility]]
* Existential predicament&nbsp;– Finitude, [[Philosophy:Social alienation|Alienation]], [[Medicine:Anxiety|Anxiety]], [[Philosophy:Guilt (emotion)|Guilt]], [[Philosophy:Ambivalence|Ambivalence]], [[Philosophy:Thrownness|Thrownness]]

==Main answers to the existential question==
There are at least three prevailing theories on how to respond to the existential question.

===Denial of essence===
* [[Philosophy:Nihilism|Nihilism]], denial of meaning

===Denial of existence===
* [[Philosophy:Essentialism|Essentialism]]

===Affirmation of life===
* [[Philosophy:Secular humanism|Secular humanism]]
* [[Religion:Religion|Religion]]

==Religion as an attempt to overcome the existential predicament==
There are two basic forms of [[Philosophy:Existentialism|existentialism]]:

===Religious existentialism===
{{Main|Philosophy:Christian existentialism|Unsolved:Jewish existentialism }}

[[Philosophy:Christian existentialism|Christian existentialism]] is best exemplified by St. Augustine, [[Biography:Blaise Pascal|Blaise Pascal]], [[Biography:Paul Tillich|Paul Tillich]], and the philosophy of [[Biography:Søren Kierkegaard|Søren Kierkegaard]]. Religious existentialism holds that there are two levels of reality, essence, which is the ground of [[Philosophy:Being|being]], and existence. Religion is the ultimate concern in this view.

===Atheistic existentialism===
{{Main|Unsolved:Atheistic existentialism}}

[[Unsolved:Atheistic existentialism|Atheistic existentialism]] is best exemplified by [[Biography:Friedrich Nietzsche|Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Biography:Martin Heidegger|Martin Heidegger]], and [[Biography:Jean-Paul Sartre|Jean-Paul Sartre]]. It holds that there is one level of reality, existence. In this view, each person constructs his own unique and temporary essence.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Philosophy:Absurdity|Absurdity]]
* [[Biography:Henri Bergson|Henri Bergson]]
* [[Biography:Wilhelm Dilthey|Wilhelm Dilthey]]
* [[Philosophy:Essence|Essence]]
* [[Philosophy:Existence|Existence]]
* [[Philosophy:Existential crisis|Existential crisis]]
* Ferdinand Fellmann
* Viktor Frankl
* German Idealism
* [[Biography:Pierre Hadot|Pierre Hadot]]
* Human situation
* [[Biography:Hans Jonas|Hans Jonas]]
* [[Biography:Søren Kierkegaard|Søren Kierkegaard]]
* ''[[Philosophy:Lebensphilosophie|Lebensphilosophie]]''
* [[Philosophy:Meaning of life|Meaning of life]]
* [[Philosophy:Self-discovery|Self-discovery]]
* [[Vitalism]]
{{div col end}}

==References==

=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}

===Further reading===
* ''William James and other essays on the philosophy of life'', [[Biography:Josiah Royce|Josiah Royce]]
* ''Existential philosophy'', [[Biography:Paul Tillich|Paul Tillich]]
*''[http://www.philosophyoflife.org/jpl2015si_book.pdf Reconsidering Meaning in Life]''
*''[http://www.lifestudies.org/press/rls0802.pdf Philosophy of Life in Contemporary Society]''

==External links==
;Academic journals
* [http://www.philosophyoflife.org/ Journal of Philosophy of Life]

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[[Category:Philosophical theories]]

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