"Existentialism is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the issue of human existence."
School of thought focused on individual experience and self-awareness.
Authenticity: This refers to the idea of being true to oneself and one's own values, as opposed to conforming to societal norms and expectations.
Freedom: The notion that individuals are responsible for their own actions and have the ability to make choices that determine their own fate.
Anxiety: The uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty and apprehension when faced with the inevitability of making choices and taking responsibility for them.
Angst: A term used to describe the existential sense of alienation, emptiness, and despair experienced by individuals when they confront the meaninglessness of life.
Death: The finality of human existence, which forces individuals to confront the meaning of their lives.
The Absurd: The idea that human existence is fundamentally meaningless and irrational, yet individuals must find their own purpose and meaning in life.
Authentic existence: A state of being in which a person lives according to their own values, without being influenced by external pressures or societal norms.
Existential crisis: A time of deep questioning and uncertainty in one's life, often brought about by a confrontation with death or a personal crisis.
Dasein: A term used in phenomenology to describe the unique way in which individuals experience the world and their own existence.
Nihilism: The rejection of all religious and moral values, resulting in a sense of purposelessness and despair.
Bad faith: The act of deceiving oneself about the true nature of one's existence, in order to avoid confronting the anxiety and responsibility that come with freedom.
Existential guilt: Feelings of guilt and responsibility that arise from the awareness that one's choices and actions can have a significant impact on their lives and the lives of others.
Authenticity in relationships: The importance of being true to oneself and one's values in romantic, familial, and social relationships.
The search for meaning: The quest to find purpose and significance in life, despite the apparent meaninglessness of existence.
Human nature: The essential characteristics and limitations of human beings, as they relate to the challenges of existentialism.
Orthodox Existentialism: This type of existentialism is rooted in the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and focuses on the themes of human freedom, anxiety, and the inevitability of death. It emphasizes the individual's ability to create their own meaning in a fundamentally meaningless world.
Atheistic Existentialism: This branch of existentialism is closely related to Orthodox Existentialism, but adds a focus on the absence of God or any higher power. It holds that humans must create their own moral frameworks in a world without predetermined morality.
Theological Existentialism: The opposite of Atheistic Existentialism, this type of existentialism claims that God or a higher power is essential to understanding human existence. It maintains that the human experience is inherently tied to the divine.
Phenomenological Metaphysics: This type of existentialism seeks to integrate existentialism with ontology and attempts to create a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of reality. It emphasizes being and reality as they are experienced by individual human beings.
Existential Phenomenology: This strand of existentialism emphasizes the subjective nature of human experience and the importance of lived experience as a means of understanding the world. It particularly focuses on the relationship between the individual and society.
Historical Existentialism: This branch of existentialism seeks to examine the effects of historical and cultural context on the individual. It emphasizes the ways that history and culture shape individuals' experiences and perceptions of the world, and how this affects their ability to create meaning.
"Existentialist philosophers explore questions related to the meaning, purpose, and value of human existence."
"Common concepts in existentialist thought include existential crisis, dread, and anxiety in the face of an absurd world, as well as authenticity, courage, and virtue."
"Among the earliest figures associated with existentialism are philosophers Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky."
"All of them critiqued rationalism and concerned themselves with the problem of meaning."
"Prominent existentialist thinkers included Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Simone de Beauvoir, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel, and Paul Tillich."
"Classical and contemporary thinkers include C.L.R James, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B DuBois, Frantz Fanon, Angela Davis, Cornell West, Naomi Zack, Stuart Hall, bell hooks, Lewis Gordon, and Audre Lorde."
"Many existentialists considered traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in style and content, to be too abstract and removed from concrete human experience."
"A primary virtue in existentialist thought is authenticity."
"Existentialism would influence many disciplines outside of philosophy, including theology, drama, art, literature, and psychology."
"A central tenet of existentialism is that personal freedom, individual responsibility, and deliberate choice are essential to the pursuit of self-discovery and the determination of life's meaning." Note: The remaining questions will not have direct quotes within the paragraph.