the individual's highest good is tofind his or her own unique vocation. In terms of moral choice, existentialists haveargued that there is no objective, rational basis for decisions; they stress theimportance of individualism in deciding questions of morality and truth. Mostexistentialists have held that rational clarity is desirable wherever possible but thatlife's most important questions are not accessible to reason or science. The first to anticipate existentialism's major concerns was seventeenth-centuryFrench philosopher Blaise Pascal, who denounced a systematic philosophy thatpresumes to explain God and humanity. He saw life in terms of paradoxes: Thehuman self, combining mind and body, is itself a contradiction. Later, Kierkegaardrejected a total rational understanding of humanity and history, stressing theambiguity and absurdity of the human situation. Nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche espoused tragicpessimism and life-affirming individual will. Heidegger argued that human beings cannever hope to understand why they are here; instead, each individual must choose agoal and follow it with passionate conviction, aware of the certainty of death and theultimate meaninglessness of one's life. Twentieth-century French philosopher JeanPaul Sartre first gave the term existentialism general currency by using it for his ownphilosophy. Explicitly atheistic and pessimistic, his philosophy declared that humanlife requires a rational basis but the attempt is a "futile passion" {2, 99-106}. Nevertheless, he insisted that his view is a form of humanism, emphasizing freedomand responsibility. Freedom of choice, through which each human being creates his own nature, is aprimary theme. Because individuals are free to choose their own path, they must acceptthe risk and responsibility of their actions. Kierkegaard held that a feeling of generalapprehension, which he called dread, is God's way of calling each individual to com...
