IntroductionIndividuality refers to the existential philosophy and ideology that sees and emphasizes the moral worth of the individual by promoting the importance of his or her goals and desires. Individuality (also sometimes called "individualism") values ​​independence and self-confidence. It argues that the interests of the individual should come before those of the state or one's social group. It strongly opposes external interference on an individual's interests by society at large or even established institutions such as the government. On the other hand, authenticity refers to the extent to which a person is true to their personality, spirit and character, despite the external pressures they encounter. In existentialism, a person's conscious self is said to be "authentic" if it is able to come to terms with existence in a material world and encounter forces from other factors in that world. These external pressures and influences are often seen as very different from - or in conflict with - one's inner consciousness. In the field of existentialism, there are two renowned philosophers and scholars whose ideas and postulations we will compare and contrast in this article. : the German philosopher Martin Heidegger and the Danish theologian and philosopher SørenAabye Kierkegaard. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While Kierkegaard places much emphasis on one's individuality and having an inner self that guides a person's consciousness (Kierkegaard, 31), Heidegger places great value on authenticity (but also avoiding inauthenticity). These are the two positions of the two philosophers that this article will focus on, comparing their similarities and contrasting their differences to explain their ideas on existentialism. My topicBoth Heidegger and Kierkegaard deal almost exhaustively with the concept of individuality and authenticity . They differ in a lot but also have very similar topics. According to Kierkegaard, authenticity depends heavily on discovering authentic faith and becoming true to oneself. It develops the idea that the news media – as well as the bourgeois church and Christianity – are human factors that present great challenges for a person trying to live their life authentically (Kierkegaard, 33). In this regard, Kierkegaard sees both the news media and the Christian church as agents that intervene in a person's life and block his true life experiences, authenticity, and even unity with God. To resolve this conflict, Kierkegaard therefore suggests that a person should take steps to choose to surrender to something whose scope is beyond comprehension. He defines it as an act of faith in the religious. As reluctant as individuals are to devote their efforts to developing their own opinions, they have a duty to do so if they are to discover an authentic faith that is driven by inner desire. In Being and Time, Martin Heidegger is primarily concerned with understanding the particular kind of existence and consciousness that is unique to each person. Heidegger's philosophy is therefore concerned with what it means to be human. It is a unique human existence that he calls Dasein, a German word that is often translated into English as “being there.” As a term, Dasein was used similarly but not exactly in the same way by German philosophers who came before Heidegger. . Instead of simply regarding the existence of consciousness as the main defining characteristic of the human condition, as many philosophers before Heidegger did, he offers our time-governed existence as human beings as a defining characteristic. WithThis Heidegger wants us to understand that human consciousness is always constituted by the past, the present and the future. Human beings are consciously aware of their mortality at the end of this life, and are always waiting for the next step in their life. While Heidegger considers interhuman relationships a very important characteristic of the authenticity of human existence, Kierkegaard seems to place a lot of emphasis on the importance of the inner self in the consciousness of the human being. For Kierkegaard, large-scale politics and the pressures of wider society are given a surprisingly imposing character. This threat is directed at the most fundamental goods of human existence: one's authenticity and individuality. On the other hand, Heidegger presents such threats in terms of four key interconnected concepts: authenticity, “fallenness,” anxiety or anguish, and the “they.” Heidegger speaks of the importance of "publicity" and mass society, alluding to an ideal balance of political affairs towards which all human beings should strive (Heidegger, 135). Despite the fact that Heidegger investigates the nature of his philosophy of Dasein without offering an ethical or normative judgment, he seems to agree with Kierkegaard on the importance of holding individuality (as the authenticity of the human being) in the highest esteem. In this regard, however, Heidegger's conception of “publicity” as a mass society seems to destroy the authenticity of Dasein and is therefore bad. Heidegger therefore sees the authentic as more virtuous and ultimately desirable in the human existential sphere than the inauthentic. According to Heidegger, “they” and “others” are at the very least vaguely pejorative labels of “inauthentic” that Heidegger uses to denote the importance of social pressures on an individual (Heidegger, 118). Heidegger also introduces the concept of “distanceality,” which is Dasein's impression of its distance from other people in the existential world (Heidegger, 125). “Distancedness”, together with the average and the “levelling down”, are the existential qualities (or “ways of being”) of “them” and, furthermore, constitute the content of “advertising”. “Leveling down” appears to be the phenomenon of reducing all things to the average or status quo. One way of thinking about this last term that I believe captures its essence in a way that is relatable to contemporary readers is the oft-lamented “lowest common denominator” appeal of most mainstream film and television. “Advertising proximally controls every way the world and Dasein are interpreted,” says Heidegger, and this “way” seems to result in a mass muting of everything. In a striking statement, which reiterates the extent of mass society's threat to Dasein, Heidegger states that "everyone is the other and no one is himself." Kierkegaard notes a crucial point about Heidegger's concept of "they" that gets lost in translation: Both Kierkegaard and Heidegger translate 'das Man' as “their”, by analogy with usages such as 'They always say that…'; but this carries many more implications of 'otherness' than 'das Man' (Kierkegaard, 1844). The point here is that Heidegger's idea of ​​'das Man' implies an identification of the self with “others”; “'They always say...' makes it clear that I include myself in this way of speaking.” It is very important for Heidegger's argument that an individual thinks of himself in terms of this anonymous "one". The importance of this equation of the self with the "others" lies in explaining the phenomenon of the taking over of the "others" from Dasein(///). But this distance that belongs to Being-with is such that Dasein as everyday “Being” -one-with-the-others”, is subjected to the “others”. In itself it is not; his Being.