"Existentialism" Defined

Existentialism is a body of loosely related philosophical ideas advanced primarily by French and German philosophers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Sometimes pessimistic, sometimes stoical, Existentialists have been characterized primarily by a preoccupation with issues of ethics and the philosophy of mind (theories concerning the nature of consciousness). These concerns have led them to careful and insightful analysis of the whole range of human experience, initially through self-analysis, and later through the use of a more powerful, systematic approach known as phenomenology. Their many hard-won, thought-provoking insights have exercised considerable influence in disciplines ranging from psychoanalysis to the arts.

Skeptical about the existence of God, and not too confident concerning any help that might be forthcoming from such a being if He did exist, Existentialists have tried to work out the implications for the conduct of the individual who has no reliable external source of moral support. Existentialists have often emphasized the radical freedom and responsibility of such an individual, but most have unfortunately tended to be vague about human teleology (i.e., the "meaning of life") while the most pessimistic have denied the very possibility of a meaningful way of life.

The Existentialist whose work did the most to point the way out of the Existential dilemma of meaninglessness was probably the American philosopher John Wild, whose seminal book The Challenge of Existentialism is reviewed elsewhere at this site.

For a more detailed discussion of Existentialism and other important Existentialist philosophers, see the section on Existentialism in the Progressive Living philosophy field guide.