Kevin Aho - Existentialism - An Introduction

The danger, for Heidegger, is that our boredom has become so ubiquitous and all-encompassing that it is now hidden, and this is why he is so concerned. The fact that we are bored with our existence but are unaware of our own boredom is what he calls “the greatest distress” (1999b, 87). But this brings us back to the enduring relevance of existentialism. By bringing us face-to-face with the ultimate questions ‘ Who am I ?’ and ‘ How should I live ?’ existentialism has the power to pull us out of our busy, listless drift, forcing us to confront the choices and actions that make us who we are. It reminds us that regardless of how distracted and consumed we may become in our day-to-day lives, we cannot escape the anguish at the heart of the human situation, and that only by facing this anguish can we identify what is truly at stake for us. To this end, existentialism always creates the possibility for a confrontation that allows me, in Kierkegaard's words, to find a truth ‘ for which I can live and die .’

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