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Existentialism studies how individuals can live authentically despite the apparent absurdity of existence.
Existentialism is a family of philosophical views that examines the human individual’s struggle to live authentically in the face of the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. It focuses on meaning, purpose, and value, and highlights experiences and attitudes such as existential crises, angst, courage, and freedom. Although existentialist thinkers differ in many details, they share an emphasis on the human subject and on confronting concrete lived experience rather than abstract, overly systematic philosophy. The purpose of existentialism is to clarify how people can determine their own lives and meanings through freedom, responsibility, and deliberate choice. A central tenet is that personal freedom and individual responsibility are essential to self-discovery and to shaping life’s meaning. Existentialism is often associated with 19th- and 20th-century European philosophers (e.g., Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Jaspers, Marcel, and others), and it became especially prominent in the mid-20th century through figures such as Sartre, whose framing emphasized that existence precedes essence and that individuals define themselves through what they do and choose.
Existentialism studies how individuals can live authentically despite the apparent absurdity of existence.
It emphasizes meaning, purpose, and value, often through concepts like angst, freedom, and responsibility.
A core purpose is self-discovery through freedom and deliberate choice, summarized by the idea that existence precedes essence.
Living in a way that genuinely reflects one’s own choices and responsibility rather than hiding behind external definitions or excuses.
The view that people shape themselves through lived existence and choices, rather than having a fixed, predetermined essence.
A felt anxiety or dread that arises from confronting freedom, responsibility, and the limits imposed by one’s situation.
The tension between the human search for meaning and the world’s apparent lack of inherent meaning, producing a sense of incomprehensibility.
The idea that individuals must choose deliberately and are accountable for the meaning and values they create through those choices.
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