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Webster's New World College Dictionary » existentialist
existentialist
Variant of existentialism
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:
- existentialist ex′·is·ten′·tial·ist adjective, noun
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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