Editing Existentialism (section)

{{Short description|Philosophical form of enquiry into subjective existence}}
{{redirect|Existential|the logical sense of the term|Existential quantification|other uses|Existence (disambiguation)}}
{{for|the philosophical position commonly seen as the antonym of existentialism |Essentialism}}
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| image1      = Kierkegaard.jpg
| image2      = Nietzsche LIFE.jpg
| image3      = Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 1876.jpg
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| image5      = Simone de Beauvoir 1955.jpg
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| footer      = Left to right, from top left: [[Søren Kierkegaard]], [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Simone de Beauvoir]], [[Albert Camus]]
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'''Existentialism''' is a family of [[philosophy|philosophical]] views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an [[Authenticity (philosophy)|authentic life]] despite the apparent [[Absurdity#The Absurd|absurd]]ity or incomprehensibility of [[existence]].<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|existentialism}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Dictionary.com|existentialism}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Cambridge Dictionaries|existentialism}}</ref> In examining [[meaning of life|meaning]], purpose, and [[value (ethics)|value]], existentialist thought often includes concepts such as [[existential crisis|existential crises]], [[Angst#Existentialist angst|angst]], [[courage]], and [[freedom]].{{sfn|Solomon|1974|pp=1–2}}

Existentialism is associated with several 19th- and 20th-century European philosophers who shared an emphasis on the human subject, despite often profound differences in thought.{{sfn|Crowell|2020}}<ref name="Macquarrie">{{cite book |first=John |last=Macquarrie |title=Existentialism |location=New York |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]] |pages=14–15 |year=1972}}</ref><ref name="Philosophy 1995 p. 259">{{cite book |title=Oxford Companion to Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00hond_471 |url-access=limited |editor-first=Ted |editor-last=Honderich |location=New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1995 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00hond_471/page/n274 259]|isbn=978-0-19-866132-0 }}</ref> Among the 19th-century figures now associated with existentialism are philosophers [[Søren Kierkegaard]] and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], as well as novelist [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]], all of whom critiqued [[rationalism]] and concerned themselves with the problem of [[meaning (philosophy)|meaning]]. The word ''existentialism'', however, was not coined until the mid 20th century, during which it became most associated with contemporaneous philosophers [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Martin Heidegger]], [[Simone de Beauvoir]], [[Karl Jaspers]], [[Gabriel Marcel]], [[Paul Tillich]], and more controversially [[Albert Camus]]. 

Many existentialists considered traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in style and content, to be too abstract and removed from concrete human experience.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ernst |last=Breisach |title=Introduction to Modern Existentialism |location=New York |publisher=Grove Press |year=1962 |page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Walter |last=Kaufmann |title=Existentialism: From Dostoyevesky to Sartre |location=New York |publisher=Meridian |year=1956 |page=12}}</ref> A primary virtue in existentialist thought is [[authenticity (philosophy)|authenticity]].{{sfn|Flynn|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eLoTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PP12 xi]}} Existentialism would influence many disciplines outside of philosophy, including [[theology]], drama, art, literature, and psychology.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Guignon |first1=Charles B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSvRzPye-gEC&q=psychoanalysis |title=Existentialism: Basic Writings |last2=Pereboom |first2=Derk |publisher=Hackett Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-87220-595-6 |page=xiii |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Existentialist philosophy encompasses a range of perspectives, but it shares certain underlying concepts. Among these, a central tenet of existentialism is that personal freedom, individual responsibility, and deliberate choice are essential to the pursuit of self-discovery and the determination of life's meaning.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Paul |last=Kleinman |title=Philosophy 101: from Plato and Socrates to ethics and metaphysics, an essential primer on the history of thought |date=2013 |publisher=Adams Media |isbn=978-1-4405-6767-4 |oclc=869368682}}</ref>