Existentialism
noun
A philosophy that emphasizes the existence of the individual person and their emotions, choices, and freedom.
Existentialism is a philosophical theory that is centered around the individual and their experience of life.
Often appears as...
- theory of existentialism
- existentialism in literature
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
noun
A literary movement in the 20th century that uses the ideas of existential philosophy.
In his works, the author reflects the spirit of existentialism, focusing on the characters' introspection and individual experiences.
Often appears as...
- existentialism in literature
- existentialism movement
Usage tips
Formal
Literary
noun
A philosophy that emphasizes the existence of the individual person and their emotions, choices, and freedom.
Existentialism is a philosophical theory that is centered around the individual and their experience of life.
Often appears as...
- theory of existentialism
- existentialism in literature
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
noun
A literary movement in the 20th century that uses the ideas of existential philosophy.
In his works, the author reflects the spirit of existentialism, focusing on the characters' introspection and individual experiences.
Often appears as...
- existentialism in literature
- existentialism movement
Usage tips
Formal
Literary
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Individual Focus
Emphasizes personal human conditions, like feeling alone or free.
Her crisis is existentialism in nature, grappling with her purpose.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Despair
While often linked to anxiety, it also asserts life's possibilities.
He embraced existentialism, celebrating the choices defining his existence.
Pro Tip 3/3Academic Term
Used in discussions of philosophy, not everyday conversation.
The philosophy class debated whether existentialism offered real freedom.
Pro Tip 1/3Individual Focus
Emphasizes personal human conditions, like feeling alone or free.
Her crisis is existentialism in nature, grappling with her purpose.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Despair
While often linked to anxiety, it also asserts life's possibilities.
He embraced existentialism, celebrating the choices defining his existence.
Pro Tip 3/3Academic Term
Used in discussions of philosophy, not everyday conversation.
The philosophy class debated whether existentialism offered real freedom.
Pro Tip 1/3Individual Focus
Emphasizes personal human conditions, like feeling alone or free.
Her crisis is existentialism in nature, grappling with her purpose.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Despair
While often linked to anxiety, it also asserts life's possibilities.
He embraced existentialism, celebrating the choices defining his existence.
Pro Tip 3/3Academic Term
Used in discussions of philosophy, not everyday conversation.
The philosophy class debated whether existentialism offered real freedom.
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Video examples
Is life meaningless? And...
under the banner of a new philosophy called existentialism. Existentialists believed people were born as blank slates, each responsible for creating their life’s meaning amidst a chaotic world. But Camus rejected their school of thought. He argued all people were born with a shared human nature
Video examples
Robin Ince: Science...
Now I'm an arts graduate; I love myth and magic and existentialism and self-loathing. That's what I do. But I also don't understand how it does ruin the magic. All of the magic, I think, that may well be taken away by science
Video examples
Is life meaningless? And...
under the banner of a new philosophy called existentialism. Existentialists believed people were born as blank slates, each responsible for creating their life’s meaning amidst a chaotic world. But Camus rejected their school of thought. He argued all people were born with a shared human nature
Video examples
Robin Ince: Science...
Now I'm an arts graduate; I love myth and magic and existentialism and self-loathing. That's what I do. But I also don't understand how it does ruin the magic. All of the magic, I think, that may well be taken away by science
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Frank Delaney
Irish Novelist
First a piece of Irish wisdom: you should always listen to a bookie. For they have a saying, 'Money tells a good story,' and somewhere in their odds is a kind of science-fiction existentialism that decrees that we, the people, know everything. In other words, betting patterns often make for good, unconscious soothsaying.
Quote examples
Carolyn Porco
American Scientist
I read about eastern philosophy and religion and existentialism. All that introspective thinking got me thinking about the great beyond. That turned my sights from inwards to outwards, and I started becoming interested in the makeup of the universe, and I started reading about astronomy, planets, and galaxies.
Quote examples
Naomi Wolf
American Author
French existentialism is an unhelpful philosophy in which to couch modern feminism: born from the ravages of the Second World War, it is a cynical, individualistic school of thought that posits the self and personal choice as the measure of life's entire meaning.
Quote examples
Jerry Hall
American Model
When I was 17, I was at La Coupole brasserie, and Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir asked me to join them at their table. They were fascinated that I'd watched their programme on existentialism back home and wanted to understand nothingness and being.
Quote examples
Elvis Mitchell
American Critic
With his compulsively slamming lyrics and king-of-the-world delivery, DMX intuitively echoes the existentialism of the projects of the novelist Donald Goines.
Quote examples
Anita Brookner
English Historian
Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society.
Quote examples
T. J. Miller
American Actor
I'm a Nietzschean scholar. I've read an immense amount about nihilism and existentialism.
Quote examples
Stanley Elkin
American Novelist
Like most people of my generation, I fell in love with the philosophy of existentialism.
Quote examples
Delmore Schwartz
American Poet
Existentialism means that no one else can take a bath for you.
Quote examples
Frank Delaney
Irish Novelist
First a piece of Irish wisdom: you should always listen to a bookie. For they have a saying, 'Money tells a good story,' and somewhere in their odds is a kind of science-fiction existentialism that decrees that we, the people, know everything. In other words, betting patterns often make for good, unconscious soothsaying.
Quote examples
Carolyn Porco
American Scientist
I read about eastern philosophy and religion and existentialism. All that introspective thinking got me thinking about the great beyond. That turned my sights from inwards to outwards, and I started becoming interested in the makeup of the universe, and I started reading about astronomy, planets, and galaxies.
Quote examples
Naomi Wolf
American Author
French existentialism is an unhelpful philosophy in which to couch modern feminism: born from the ravages of the Second World War, it is a cynical, individualistic school of thought that posits the self and personal choice as the measure of life's entire meaning.
Quote examples
Jerry Hall
American Model
When I was 17, I was at La Coupole brasserie, and Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir asked me to join them at their table. They were fascinated that I'd watched their programme on existentialism back home and wanted to understand nothingness and being.
Quote examples
Elvis Mitchell
American Critic
With his compulsively slamming lyrics and king-of-the-world delivery, DMX intuitively echoes the existentialism of the projects of the novelist Donald Goines.
Quote examples
Anita Brookner
English Historian
Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society.
Quote examples
T. J. Miller
American Actor
I'm a Nietzschean scholar. I've read an immense amount about nihilism and existentialism.
Quote examples
Stanley Elkin
American Novelist
Like most people of my generation, I fell in love with the philosophy of existentialism.
Quote examples
Delmore Schwartz
American Poet
Existentialism means that no one else can take a bath for you.
Example 1 of 9
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