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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

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

existentialism Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • modern: The movement of modern existentialism in visual art starts with Cézanne in France.

Converse of object

  • discuss: See - reading this is like being in Paris... discussing existentialism with like-minded individuals in a Latin Quarter cafe.

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.
existentialism usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

existentialism quotes

John Clellon Holmes†and I were sitting around trying to think up the meaning of the Lost Generation and the subsequent Existentialism and I said,'You know, this is really a beat generation'and he leapt up and said,'That's it, that's right!'

-Kerouac,Jack (John)

L'homme n'est rien d'autre que ce qu'il se fait.Tel est le premier principe de l'existentialisme. Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. That is the first principle of existentialism.

-Sartre,Jean-Paul

existentialism quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"existentialism." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/existentialism>

APA Style

existentialism. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/existentialism

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