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existentialism Definition

ex·is·ten·tial·ism (----iz′əm)

noun

a philosophical and literary movement, variously religious and atheistic, stemming from Kierkegaard and represented by Sartre, Heidegger, etc.: it is based on the doctrine that concrete, individual existence takes precedence over abstract, conceptual essence and holds that human beings are totally free and responsible for their acts and that this responsibility is the source of their feelings of dread and anguish

Etymology: Fr existentialisme < existenciel

existentialism Related Forms

ex′·is·ten·tial·ist adjective, noun

existentialism Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • Christian: Yet a deep link with Christian existentialism remained a determining factor.
  • modern: The movement of modern existentialism in visual art starts with Cézanne in France.
  • atheistic: Sartre has the point of view that is called Atheistic Existentialism, which puts the emphasis on the individual instead of society.
  • sartrean: Several eminent thinkers at the time, including Jean Wahl, dismissed Sartrean existentialism as a manifestation of this.
  • religious: Thus he creates his religious existentialism as a philosophy of multiplicity and emancipation from knowledge, morality and rules of mind and action.

Converse of object

  • discuss: See - reading this is like being in Paris... discussing existentialism with like-minded individuals in a Latin Quarter cafe.
  • read: At the moment the Sartre list is reading Existentialism and Humanism together.

Preposition: as

humanism: The same can be said for Sartre's ethics in Existentialism as a Humanism.

Noun used with modifier

geezer: And be assured, in The Final Days of Simon Bacon the geezers knock existentialism 's block off.

Browse dictionary entries near existentialism

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