Live Like an Existentialist<\/b><\/p>\n I ask that I be taken into consideration on the basis of my desire. I am not only here and now, locked in thinghood. I desire somewhere else and something else. I demand that an account be taken of my contradictory activity insofar as I pursue something other than life, insofar as I am fighting for the birth of a human world, in other words, a world of reciprocal recognitions. He who is reluctant to recognize me is against me…<\/p>\n \u2013 Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks<\/em>, Conclusion<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Fanon introduces the concept of recognition into our existential toolbox. If humans always exist for-others as well as for-ourselves, then the former is not necessarily antithetical to a good life. That dimension of ourselves does become a problem, however, under a certain set of conditions. When who we are for others is not a human (a negating existence) but a positive thing, we have not been recognized. Recognition is not knowledge of \u201cwhat I really am like,\u201d but rather an acknowledgment of one\u2019s inherent freedom. It is an acknowledgement of the fact that I never COULD know what you are “really like”. This is the principle category of unethical behavior for existentialism: all genuine crimes and immoralities stem from a refusal to recognize the \u201clike-me\u201d character of other human beings, which is to say their character as existences rather than essences.<\/p>\n Today, identify three moments in which you experienced another person without recognizing them. During or immediately after those moments, spend ten minutes journaling. Describe the experience: try to avoid moral panic and truly put the experience \u201cin parentheses.\u201d<\/p>\n Once you’ve completed the assigned exercise for today, click here<\/a> to access the prompt for tonight\u2019s reflection<\/strong> and to submit your 1-2 paragraph journal entry.<\/p>\nBackground<\/b><\/h2>\n
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