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Revision as of 17:13, 5 January 2003
Existentialism is a philosophical movement characterized by its emphasis on individuality, individual freedom and subjectivity.
Among the most famous and influential propositions is the one by Sartre "existence precedes essence," which is generally taken to mean that there is no pre-defined moral or spiritual essence to humanity, except that which we make for ourselves.
Existentialism was a 'light' philosophical movement of the mid-20th century, inspired by the 'heavy' German philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger and propounded by the French writer and would-be philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and others, including the novelist, essayist and playwright Albert Camus. Its basic premise is that 'existence precedes essence', in other words human beings are not pre-determined in any way but are entirely free to do as they choose and must be judged by their actions rather than 'what they are', since they are entirely what they do. Their versions of existentialism does not admit the existence of a god or of any other determining principle. It warns against all 'viscous' elements of existence, that might ensnare the freedom that is the human being. As long as the traps of viscosity can be avoided, the main problem for the human being then becomes that of how to choose one's actions. Others, such as Karl Jaspers and Gabriel Marcel pursued more theological versions of existentialism. The main tenets of the movement are set out in Jean-Paul Sartre's L'Existentialisme est un humanisme, translated as Existentialism and Humanism.
See philosophy for a list of other concepts related to existentialism.
Major thinkers and authors associated with the movement:
Novelists and Playwrights: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Franz Kafka, Henrik Ibsen, Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco.
Philosophers: Blaise Pascal, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Max Stirner, Emmanuel Levinas, Gabriel Marcel, Karl Jaspers
Psychologists: Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss, Viktor Frankl
Modern music dealing with existential topics: Gothic rock