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Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that prioritize the existence of the human individual, study existence from the individual's perspective, and conclude that, despite the absurdity or incomprehensibility of the universe, individuals must still embrace responsibility for their actions and strive to lead authentic lives.
The proposition that existence precedes essence (French: l'existence précède l'essence) is a central claim of existentialism, which reverses the traditional philosophical view that the essence (the nature) of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence (the mere fact of its being). [1]
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre in Beijing, 1955. Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (/ ˈ s ɑːr t r ə /, US also / ˈ s ɑːr t /; [5] French:; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism.
Martin Heidegger (/ ˈ h aɪ d ɛ ɡ ər, ˈ h aɪ d ɪ ɡ ər /; [3] German: [ˈmaʁtiːn ˈhaɪdɛɡɐ]; [3] 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism.
Existentialism Is a Humanism has been "a popular starting-point in discussions of existentialist thought," [4] and in the philosopher Thomas Baldwin's words, "Seized the imagination of a generation." [ 5 ] However, Sartre himself later rejected some of the views he expressed in the work, and regretted its publication. [ 4 ]
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (/ ˈ s ɒr ə n ˈ k ɪər k ə ɡ ɑːr d / SORR-ən KEER-kə-gard, US also /-ɡ ɔːr /-gor; Danish: [ˈsɶːɐn ˈɔˀˌpyˀ ˈkʰiɐ̯kəˌkɒˀ] ⓘ; [1] 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855 [2]) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first Christian existentialist philosopher.
The philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard has been a major influence in the development of 20th-century philosophy, especially existentialism and postmodernism. Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th-century Danish philosopher who has been labeled by many as the "Father of Existentialism", [ 1 ] although there are some in the field who express doubt in ...
Existentialism is a movement within continental philosophy that developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries. As a loose philosophical school, some persons associated with existentialism explicitly rejected the label (e.g. Martin Heidegger ), and others are not remembered primarily as philosophers, but as writers ( Fyodor Dostoyevsky ) or ...