Definition of existentialism Existentialism

ex•is•ten•tial•ism

We found 6 definitions of existentialism from 5 different sources.

What does existentialism mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: existentialisms
existentialism - (philosophy) a 20th-century philosophical movement chiefly in Europe; assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves
		existential philosophy, existentialist philosophy
		philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory a doctrine accepted by adherents to a philosophy
		philosophy any personal belief about how to live or how to deal with a situation; "self-indulgence was his only philosophy"; "my father's philosophy of child-rearing was to let mother do it"

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Wiktionary

existentialism (Noun)
A twentieth-century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices.
existentialism (Noun)
The philosophical views of a particular thinker associated with the existentialist movement.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

existentialism
A movement in twentieth-century literature and philosophy. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves.

Wikipedia

Existentialism is a philosophical way of thinking. Ways of thinking about life and ways of thinking about how people understand life is called philosophy. Existentialism is a way of thinking that is very different from many other ways of thinking.

Many religions and philosophies (ways of thinking about the world) say that human life has a meaning (or a purpose). Not to be confused with Nihilism where people believe that human life "does not" have a meaning (or a purpose), people who believe in existentialism think that the world and human life is "absurd". Basically "one must exist before they have essence" Existentialist believe that life may have some sort of meaning, but believe that there is no point in finding it or defining it.

Existentialists believe that our human essence or nature (way of being in the world) is entirely and simply existence (being in the world). This means that the only nature we as humans have is the nature we make for ourselves. As a result of this existentialists think that the actions or choices that a person make are very important. They believe that each person has to decide for themselves what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad.

People who believe in existentialism ask questions like "what is it like to be a human (a person) in the world?" and "how can we understand human freedom (what it means for a person to be free)?" Existentialism is very often associated with negative emotions, such as anxiety (worrying), dread (a very strong f