ential, reacted against tradition by insisting that the highest good for the individual is to find his uniqueness. His journal reads, 'I must find a truth that is true for me ... the idea for which I can live or die" ("Kierkegaard" Kemerling, Garth). Existentialists believe that morality depends on the individual, rather than a Supreme Being (Rohmann, Chris).Next to moral individualism, the inevitability of choice is the most prominent existentialist theory. Existentialism asserts that people do not have a fixed nature, as other animals and plants do. Our choices determine who we are. The Twentieth-Century French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre proclaimed that the most Important choice is the choice of us. Each character makes choices that create his nature. Existence suggests freedom where mankind is open to a future that is determined by choice and action. Choice is inescapable and central to human existence; the refusal to choose is a choice. Even when a person seems to be acting out a "given' role or following "given" values -- for example, by The Almighty, or by society -- he is in fact choosing to do so ("Sartre" Kemerling, Garth). Individuals are free to choose their own destination. Hence, they must accept the risk and responsibility of following their commitment.Appleget 3Since man's choices cannot be universally judged, Existentialists propose a framework for which responsibility can be recognized. This outline does not tell individuals what and how to choose; rather it implies that there are right and wrong ways of choosing. Usually through situations such as death, struggle, guilt, anxiety, nausea, or anguish, one becomes aware of responsibility (right versus wrong). Kierkegaard mentioned that an individual must experience dread, fear of specific objects such as the Almighty, to recognize responsibility (May, Rollo).Existentialists regard responsibilities as personal and subjective (existing only in the mind; illusionary), cons...
