Philosopy of life

There are at least two senses in which the term philosophy is used: a formal and an informal sense. In the formal sense, philosophy is an academic study of the fields of aesthetics, ethics, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, as well as social and political philosophy. One's "philosophy of life" is philosophy in the informal sense, as a personal philosophy, whose focus is resolving the existential questions about the human condition.

"Philosophy of life" also refers to a specific conception of philosophizing as a way of life,endorsed by the German Lebensphilosophie movement whose main representative is Wilhelm Dilthey and several other Continental philosophers such as Henri Bergson and Pierre Hadot.

The human situation

Main article: Human situation
The human situation appears to be a struggle between what is (existence) and what ought (essence) to be.

Normative situations – Alternatives, Choice, Freedom, Values, Standards, Ideals, Obligation, Responsibility

Existential predicament – Finitude, Alienation, Anxiety, Guilt, Ambivalence, 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
Regression, pre-human existence
Nihilism, denial of meaning

Denial of existence
Eastern mysticism
Essentialism

Affirmation of essence and existence
Humanism
Religion
Zen
Religion as an attempt to overcome the existential predicament

There are two basic forms of existentialism:

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

Atheistic existentialism
Main article: Atheistic existentialism
Atheistic existentialism is best exemplified by Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and 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.