Existentialism

Gets its name from an insistence that human life is understandable only in terms of an individual man's existence, his particular experience of life.

Existentialism

Gets its name from an insistence that human life is understandable only in terms of an individual man's existence, his particular experience of life.

Man Lives (Has Existence)

Rather than is (has essence)

Every man's experience of life…

Unique, radically different from everyone else's and can be understood truly only in terms of his involvement in life or commitment to life

Existentialism assumes…

The “absurdity” of the world

Sisyphus, from “The Myth of Sisyphus”

Rolled the rock to the top of the mountain endlessly for all of eternity

The “Existential Hero”

The man who can act despite his vivid awareness of the absurdity of the world in which he is living

Existentialism emphasizes…

The personal non-institutionalized need for every man to make his own decisions

Existentialism advocates…

Living in the present

The only existentialist certainty

Death

Is Suicide An Alternative?

No, you must live with “existential angst”

Freedom Is…

Very important to existentialists. An infringement on one's is an infringement on all's,