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existentialism
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existentialism

Branch of philosophy based on the situation of the individual in an absurd or meaningless universe where humans have free will. Existentialists argue that people are responsible for and the sole judge of their actions as they affect others. The origin of existentialism is usually traced back to the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard; among its proponents were Martin Heidegger in Germany and Jean-Paul Sartre in France.

All self-aware individuals can grasp or intuit their own existence and freedom, and individuals must not allow their choices to be constrained by anything – not even reason or morality. This freedom to choose leads to the notion of nonbeing, or nothingness, which can provoke angst or dread.

Existentialism has many variants. Kierkegaard emphasized the importance of pure choice in ethics and Christian belief; Sartre tried to combine existentialism with Marxism.



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Philosophers are grouped into schools (rationalists, liberals, materialists, existentialists, etc.
Stokes, Philip. Philosophy: 100 Essential Thinkers by Levinson, Daniel / Kliatt
My attempts to show slides of Ingre's nudes, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (with her stripped bosom showing), even Michael Angelo's David drew as much resentment as did my lectures on Darwin or the existentialists.
English literature and Arab students by Al Maleh, Layla / Academic Exchange Quarterly
After Edmondson's book, there will be little excuse for dismissing--or praising--O'Connor's stories and novels as exercises in the grotesque for its own sake, or for listing O'Connor among the existentialists, as one of her reviewers did.
The Country of Objective Truth by Seaton, James / Modern Age
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