The Loss of Individuality in War: Existentialist Approach

Abstract

The article explores the issue of loss of individuality in the war according to theoretical perceptions of existentialist philosophers. The problem is observed and discussed focusing mainly on the cases of two world wars emerged in 20th century. It is obvious that these wars had a huge global impact not only on the social and political life worldwide, but also on the philosophical perceptions of human life valorization and his existence. Based on the comparative analysis of philosophical views of different thinkers the article reveals the loss of human individuality both in social conditions and on the ontological level.   It is concluded that if the philosophy of World War I observed death as a unifying factor, including an equalization that excludes the individual, then existentialism, as a condition of the reality of widespread death, considers it as a phenomenon that opens the spiritual eye of a person to the reality of death. As the development of technology and wars are closely related, world wars represent a direct threat by primitive nations that assimilate and use technology to absorb nations endowed with peace-loving and creative spirit. This is a big threat to humanity in terms of its dehumanization and destruction.