Existence philosophy is a modern school of thought that pays great attention to human beings as living, choosing, restless, responsible and meaning-seeking subjects. In this tradition, two important figures who are often compared are Jean-Paul Sartre and Karl Jaspers. Both talk about humans, freedom, choice, anxiety, and authenticity. However, they have different directions of thought. Sartre is better known as an atheistic existentialist, while Jaspers is known for his philosophy of existence that is more open to the dimension of transcendence.<\/p>\n
For students of the Faculty of Ushuluddin and Adab (FUDA), this comparison is important because the FUDA academic environment not only studies humans as rational, social, and historical beings, but also as spiritual beings who have a relationship with God. FUDA students are in an academic space that integrates the study of philosophy, religion, history, language, culture, and humanity. Therefore, the philosophy chosen as the basis for human reflection should not only emphasize human freedom, but also pay attention to the dimensions of spiritual responsibility, morality, communication, and transcendence.<\/p>\n
Sartre is famous for the idea of \u201cexistence precedes essence\u201d, i.e. man first exists, then shapes himself through choices and actions. In Sartre's framework, there is no predetermined human essence by God or metaphysical nature; humans create their own meaning through freedom. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains that Sartre does place human existence before essence, so that humans do not have a fixed essence that precedes their existence. Sartre himself in Existentialism is a Humanism states that if God does not exist, then humans are beings whose existence precedes their essence, and humans must define themselves after they are present in the world. In contrast to Sartre, Karl Jaspers views humans as Existenz, which is human existence that cannot be reduced only to empirical objects, numbers, data, or social roles. Humans become truly existential when they are faced with boundary situations such as death, suffering, struggle, guilt, and failure. In such situations, humans realize their limitations and begin to open up to something beyond themselves, namely transcendence. For Jaspers, the boundary situation is an existential moment that encourages humans to face the limits of their consciousness and seek higher forms of knowledge and awareness.<\/p>\n
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This paper argues that Karl Jaspers' philosophy of existence is more relevant than Sartre's existentialism for FUDA students, mainly because Jaspers makes room for transcendence, existential communication, awareness of human limits, and moral-spiritual responsibility. This is in line with the Islamic scientific vision that views humans not only as free beings, but also as servants of Allah, caliphs, seekers of knowledge, and responsible moral subjects. Jean-Paul Sartre placed human freedom at the center of his philosophy.<\/p>\n
According to Sartre, humans do not have a fixed, predetermined essence. Man comes first, then determines himself through his choices. Therefore, man is not a finished object, but a project that continues to shape itself. This thought gives great credit to human freedom, but also carries a heavy consequence: humans are fully responsible for themselves.<\/p>\n
One of Sartre's important concepts is bad faith or mauvaise foi, which is a dishonest attitude towards one's own freedom. A person is in bad faith when he pretends to be unfree, blames circumstances, takes refuge behind social status, or considers himself solely determined by the system. Bad faith in Sartre relates to man's denial of his own freedom; man tries to make himself a fixed object, even though he is a free consciousness. Sartre's thought has important value for students. He teaches the courage to choose, the courage to take responsibility, and the courage not to live falsely.<\/p>\n
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In the context of FUDA students, this idea can encourage students not to be passive, not just go with the flow, and dare to make conscious academic and moral decisions. For example, students should not blame circumstances when they are lazy to read, do not write scientific papers, or just copy other people's ideas without academic responsibility. However, the main problem with Sartre's existentialism lies in its atheistic tendencies and its emphasis on human autonomy. If humans fully create their own meaning without transcendent support, then the meaning of life is highly dependent on human subjectivity.<\/p>\n
In the context of Islamic education, this view needs to be criticized. Islam recognizes human freedom and responsibility, but this freedom is not absolute. Human freedom is within the horizon of servitude to Allah, moral responsibility, and the purpose of creation. For this reason, Sartre is important for understanding human freedom, but it is inadequate if it is used as the main basis for FUDA students who live in an Islamic academic tradition.<\/p>\n
FUDA students need a philosophy of man that not only talks about freedom, but also about limitations, relationship with God, ethical communication, and transcendental orientation. Karl Jaspers did not understand humans only as objects of science. For Jaspers, humans can indeed be studied biologically, psychologically, socially, and historically, but humans can never be exhausted by objective approaches. There is a deeper dimension to human beings called Existenz. Existenz is not just a physical existence, but an authentic existence that arises when humans are aware of themselves, their boundaries, their responsibilities, and their direction to transcendence.<\/p>\n
An important concept in Jaspers' philosophy is boundary situations or Grenzsituationen. Boundary situations are fundamental experiences that humans cannot avoid, such as death, suffering, conflict, failure, and guilt. These experiences shake humans from a superficial life to a deeper consciousness. Jaspers did not view suffering solely as destruction, but as a doorway to existential understanding. The boundary situation in Jaspers' thought is a moment when humans are compelled to face the limits of consciousness and seek higher forms of reflection.<\/p>\n
In addition to boundary situations, Jaspers also emphasized existential communication. Humans do not become their authentic selves in closed solitude, but through dialog, openness, and encounters with others. Existential communication is not just an exchange of information, but an encounter between people who open themselves to each other in honesty, responsibility, and the search for truth. In the context of students, this idea is very important because higher education requires not only mastery of theory, but also a culture of dialogue, discussion manners, intellectual openness, and willingness to respect differences.<\/p>\n
The most important element in Jaspers' philosophy for FUDA students is his openness to transcendence. Jaspers did not equate his philosophy with a particular religious theology, but he made room for human experiences that point to the Beyond. Humans, according to Jaspers, cannot understand themselves fully if they only stop at the empirical world. He needs to realize that his existence is always dealing with mysteries, limitations, and calls that transcend him.<\/p>\n
Thus, Jaspers' philosophy is more easily dialogued with an Islamic perspective. Islam views humans as beings who have a purpose for creation. In the Qur'an letter az-Zariyat verse 56, it is emphasized:<\/p>\n
\u0648\u064e\u0645\u064e\u0627 \u062e\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0642\u0652\u062a\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u062c\u0650\u0646\u064e\u0651 \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0652\u0627\u0650\u0646\u0652\u0633\u064e \u0627\u0650\u0644\u064e\u0651\u0627 \u0644\u0650\u064a\u064e\u0639\u0652\u0628\u064f\u062f\u064f\u0648\u0652\u0646\u0650<\/p>\n
Meaning: \u201cI did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.\u201d This verse provides a transcendental basis for human existence. Humans are not only free beings as Sartre emphasizes, but also beings directed towards the service of God. In this framework, human freedom is not lost, but given direction. Humans are free to choose, but that choice must be accounted for before God. Humans can shape themselves, but that self-formation must not be separated from the goals of worship, morals, knowledge, and benefit.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Filsafat eksistensi merupakan salah satu corak pemikiran modern yang memberi perhatian besar pada manusia sebagai subjek yang hidup, memilih, gelisah, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kolom-dekan"],"yoast_head":"\n