The Five Core Existentialist Themes

As defined in The American Heritage College Dictionary, existentialism emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards existnece as unexplainable, and stresses free choice and responsibility for one's actions.  Existentialism is personalized from other schools of thought by its embodiment of three important criterion; 1) the emphasis of the individual as the centerpoint of his domain; 2) an accentuation of human choice and freedom; and, 3) a critique of social norm and its aim for individuals to congregate as merely part of a herd.  These three standards of action are present in all works defined as existential, and are absorbed in Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Existentialism is a philosophy that puts emphasis on the existence of a person’s freedom or life. In a human point of view, it means to believe in oneself, not a group or religion. (33)

Existentialists find value in a personal point of view (thou rather than it). Like atheistic existentialists they hold a distinction between the subjective and objective worlds.

In this article the meaning of Existentialism is explained as the author, Randall Niles, describes how existentialism is a 20th century philosophy that centers itself on the analysis of human existence. He explains the popular slogan “existence precedes essence” by the very first founders of Existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre. The notion of the slogan is described by explaining how humans come into existence when they are first born, and spend their lifetime changing their essence and nature so it satisfies them. The philosophy of Existentialism is further analysed by explaining how humans find themselves and the ultimate meaning of their life by acknowledging their responsibility and making decisions accordingly. Moreover, it also explains

Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre, was published in 1945 at the height of Existentialism's cultural resurgence. As Sartre states in his opening line, his purpose is to “offer a defence of existentialism against some charges that have been brought against it.” (Sartre, 1945) At a time where Existentialism was heavily associated with wearing black and smoking (Fahlenbrach, 2012) Sartre felt the need to draw attention to its philosophical and more meaningful aspects, beyond it simply being a passing trend. Sartre outlines, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. That is the first principle of existentialism” (Sartre, 1945) This is rooted in what Sartre believes to be the basis of all Existential

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a relation is “a state of being mutually or reciprocally interested,” which relationship is a connection by the way the of relations (Relation, 2017). Since the term relationship is defined, therapy is then a process with a purpose; for example, the resolution of clients’ problems. To achieve the treatment that the patient needs, the innovative approach must attain the goal for the patient’s point of mutual interest with the therapist, who also has a common interest in resolving the patient’s problems. Addressing the patient’s problems means accomplishing some changes in the way the client perceives, thinks, feels, sees their reality. This small detail requires active participation from the

In life, many people seek to find their purpose; people want to know who they are and what they need to do in order to live their life to the fullest. It is guaranteed that finding one’s purpose in life is not going to be easy, however everyone has the capability to do so. There are going to be obstacles that will hinder one from finding one’s identity and purpose in life, but it is up to each individual to find ways to overcome these obstacles, and the absurdity of life in general. Throughout The Stranger, Invisible Man, and Harrison Bergeron, existentialism is a common theme, and it plays a big role in certain characters finding their identity and their purpose in life. Existentialism is centered around the ideology that one’s purpose in life is found through an individual making their own choices and taking responsibility for their actions. It is important to remember that everyone has their own set of ideologies, and by keeping an open mind about different people having different ideologies, it will be easier to find one’s self in the process.

  Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz

Existentialism Within a Marriage John Paul Sartre had a theory called existentialism, which was defined as the existence of the individual person as responsible of determining their own lives, emotions, and consequences through their actions. To better define it, with the use of a visual aid, take Hogarth into mind. In Hogarth’s “Marriage a la Mode,” which shows the inevitable end of an immature relationship, it incorporates the demonstrations of bad decisions leading to certain consequences. In the first piece, “The Marriage Settlement,” the bride and groom sit on the couch together, completely uninvested in each other. In the center of the painting, their marriage is being decided on.

The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists.

The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good

Existentialism can be defined as a branch of philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. It focuses on the question of human existence and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation for existence. Although they never used the term existentialism in their works, Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are considered two of the first and significant philosophers to the existentialist movement. They focused on subjective human experience and were interested in the struggle to escape boredom and find meaning in life. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche also stressed the importance of making free choices and how these choices change the identity of the individual. Both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche felt that life is

As quoted from Marcel, ‘to exist’ means not just to be ‘present to my own aware-ness’ but also to be a manifest being. “I exist—that is as much to say: I have something to make myself known and recognized both by others and by myself”. In conclusion, existentialism is not about man as an absolute being but rather a relative and subjective one. As long as a man exists, there is always a room for him to revise and correct himself and has a future that is not determined by his innate nature, birthright, etc. The most important values on existentialism are freedom of choice and individuality.

Existentialism developed in the more extensive feeling to twentieth century rationality that is focused upon the investigation about presence and of the best approach people discover themselves existing or their existence as a whole. Existentialism takes its name from those philosophical topic of 'existence ', this doesn 't involve that there will be homogeneity in the way presence will be on be comprehended. On simpler terms, existentialism will be an logic worried for finding self and the intending from claiming an aggregation through spare will, choice and also personage obligation. Existentialism turned into prominent following those Second World War. In spite of seeing its philosophical viewpoint is little spot complex,

I consider myself an existentialist. There are two basic approaches to this philosophy: either one rejoices in the freedom of the idea that a higher power is not imposing rules and purpose onto our existence, or, one sinks beneath the burden of responsibility that this bequeaths. Existentialists like Sartre, who can only see the bleak and meaningless aspects of living, have missed the opportunity that this philosophy gives to structure and guide their lives based on their own inner moral principles. I think that the inability to cope with inherent absence of meaning points to a dependence on the guidance of a higher power: in effect, a reluctance to take responsibility for oneself. I see existentialism as an incredibly liberating