Question:

What does an 'existential conflict' mean?

rockali on Existential.com - 2007-06-15 07:59:53 - Philosophy

I was speaking to someone the other day, and he believes that I have an 'existential conflict' that needs to be resolved. I've tried reading more about this on the net, but I'm not really getting anywhere - can anyone shed some light on this for me please?

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Unless the person who told you that is your qualified therapist, your best bet is to just ignore every idiot who tries to make judgments on what your inner personality is supposed to be. The only one who gets to decide that, indeed, the only one who really KNOWS, is you. If it IS your therapist who said that, then you should ask for a better clarification than words like that.

Other Suggestions:

Unless the person who told you that is your qualified therapist, your best bet is to just ignore every idiot who tries to make judgments on what your inner personality is supposed to be. The only one who gets to decide that, indeed, the only one who really KNOWS, is you. If it IS your therapist who said that, then you should ask for a better clarification than words like that.

Existential concepts are notions about the nature of life and reality. If you are a person with more then one existential concept, they may be in conflict with eachother. Basically it means you are fighting against yourself and traveling in logical loops. Keep reading, keep learning. Life is a lesson in awareness.

Read the book that Dante[A] created, called "The Passionate Intellect", since you want to be a smarty cat.

I think it means that your conflict is something situational and that it can only be resolved in the context of your own perspective and set of values. Existentialism arises from Descartes' "cogito ergo sum"--I think therefore I am. Existentialism gives value to one's own decisions and freedom of thought. In other words, one creates his own reality and solves his own problems.

in short, that you are searching for meaning. but isn't everyone?

I think it means that he is trying to belittle you with terms he barely understands himself.

I think, that good lies between two extremes has been very generally accepted by those who have tried to view the life rationally. thus softness (take life) carried to its logical conclusion involves extinction; and so, with equal sureness, does hardness (indifference to the infliction of death and suffering) it was existential conflict i think.

I think it means that you have conflict within yourself because you can't find a reason or purpose in your life

A conflict that exist already.

Existential therapy focuses on the development of a patient/client’s self-awareness by looking deeply into the issues of our aloneness, meaninglessness, and mortality. The therapist emphasizes the patient/client’s ability to freely make choices in the present, not under the influence of deterministic aspects or past conditioning. The existentialist attempts to convert meaninglessness into meaningfulness, giving the patient/client the courage to make his or her own healthy choices and to lead a socially rewarding life. Existential therapists have their own unique views about human nature, mental dysfunction, wellness, and therapeutic techniques.

don't believe everything people tell you... tell yr friend to mirror himself