( Existential Aspects In the Poetry of Thom Gunn (1954 - 1976

Abstract

Existentialism IS a controversial movement m contemporary philosophy. Its most constant characteristic is its concern about human existence, especially the affirmation of freedom and the refusal to subordinate personal self-awareness to abstract concepts or dehumanizing structures. Although it is not the product of the modern age, it has been specifically well­ formulated and popularized in the 19th and 20th centuries. Central to all the definitions of existentialism is the assertion that man is -.a maker of his own destiny. Once one grapples with his existence, he seeks _,. to capture his own forged essence; theref0re, the stmiing point of Existentialism is that "existence precedes essence,"( 1 l that is to:say, man exists

first and then defines himself in the course of his experience of life. Man, existentialists believe, should strive through concrete experience to arrive at a personal evaluation of both the world and himself. In fact, Existentialism came as a reaction to the 19111 century

materialism when the free and peaceful future, which once seemed guaranteed •o by the achievements of science, technology and invention, had .been fragmented. Existentialism is the expression of a world which is out of j;aint.

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Hence, existentialists in the modern age have sought to draw attention way

from "the dehumanizing values of a positivist and mechanistic society

I towards the human individual and his distinctive way of being,"(2

l in a:way

similar to that of Socrates who shifted the focus of speculation in aacient

Greece from nature to man.

Against the traditional VIew that mor.al choice involves an objective judgment of right and wrong, existentialists ,have argued that no objective, rational basis can be found for moral decisions. For the existentialists the meaning of man can be understood from his actions, rather than a preconceived notion of human nature.