existentialism

[ eg-zi-sten-shuh-liz-uhm, ek-si- ]

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.

existentialism

/ 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

existentialism

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.

Derived Forms

• ˌexisˈtentialist, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• exis·tential·ist adjective noun
• exis·tential·istic adjective
• exis·tential·isti·cal·ly adverb
• nonex·is·tential·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of existentialism¹

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

Example Sentences

At a gas station I read a Twitter thread by the novelist Michael Chabon, a Californian, about nihilism versus existentialism.

From ProPublica

At the center of this existentialism is the question of what we become when society and civilization fail us.

From Vox

You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik A thought-provoking debut that mixes existentialism with cool Parisian intrigue.

From The Daily Beast

“It all goes back to existentialism,” she says of her career.

From The Daily Beast

She talks to Glenn Kenny about dirty films, sexual existentialism—and turning 21.

From The Daily Beast