existentialism

American  

[eg-zi-sten-shuh-liz-uhm, ek-si-] / ˌɛg zɪˈstɛn ʃəˌlɪz əm, ˌɛk sɪ- /

noun

Philosophy.

1. a philosophical movement that stresses the individual's unique position as a self-determining agent responsible for making meaningful, authentic choices in a universe seen as purposeless or irrational: existentialism is associated especially with Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, and Sartre, and is opposed to philosophical rationalism and empiricism.

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existentialism British  

/ ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a modern philosophical movement stressing the importance of personal experience and responsibility and the demands that they make on the individual, who is seen as a free agent in a deterministic and seemingly meaningless universe

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existentialism Cultural  

1. A movement in twentieth-century literature and philosophy, with some forerunners in earlier centuries. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound anguish or dread. Søren Kierkegaard and Feodor Dostoyevsky in the nineteenth century, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Camus in the twentieth century, were existentialist writers.

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Other Word Forms

• existentialist adjective
• existentialistic adjective
• existentialistically adverb
• nonexistentialism noun

Etymology

Origin of existentialism

First recorded in 1940–45; from German Existentialismus (1919); existential, -ism

Explanation

If you study philosophy, you learn about existentialism, a school of thought that claims people are responsible for creating meaning out of life — since the world is meaningless. In a nutshell, existentialism, pronounced "eg-sih-STEN-shul-ism," asks what it means to be human when individuals have the power to shape their lives without being absolutely sure of what is good and what is evil. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are usually regarded as the founders of existentialism, but other famous existentialists include Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, and de Beauvoir.

Example Sentences

Friends and family spoke of his infectious passion for computer science and a voracious intellect that made room for serious discussion on a range of topics, from “The Lord of the Rings” to French existentialism.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2023

Mr. Oe went on to study French literature at the University of Tokyo, where he immersed himself in existentialism and wrote his thesis on Jean-Paul Sartre.

From Washington Post • Mar. 13, 2023

Yet somehow, in a wiped-out corner of Normandy, horror and sympathy fused into the existentialism of “Waiting for Godot” and, later, culminated in the black optimism of “Happy Days.”

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2022

“The Batman”: You’d think the “Batman” film franchise wouldn’t need yet another moody reboot drenched in cynical existentialism with a touch of nihilism mixed in.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2022

It can stand in for anything—a stuffed piranha, existentialism, the Monroe Doctrine, or buttered toast.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner