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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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One need only look at the underlying assumptions in existentialist philosophy and even ancient Greek philosophy to see this point.
Teaching our children well: pedagogy, religion, and the future of ... by Katz, Claire Elise / Cross Currents
This dialectic between self and Other is also located in the relation between Sartre's existentialist philosophy and Levi-Strauss's notion of structure, where Mudimbe has traced the philosophical foundations of the colonial conflict between the "native" (existentialist self) and colonialist (the structure of the Other).
Michael Syrotinksi. Singular Performances: Reinscribing the Subject ... by Samuels, Robert / African American Review
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