Library: Philosophy by Credo Reference: Existentialism

19th Century Existentialists

Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855): Topic Page
Danish philosopher and religious thinker. Kierkegaard's outwardly uneventful life in Copenhagen contrasted with his intensive inner examination of self and society, which resulted in various profound writings.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900): Topic Page
German philosopher; put forward the concepts of the superman and the death of God in Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883-85); one of the precursors of existentialism.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881): Topic Page
Russian novelist. Remarkable for their profound psychological insight, Dostoevsky's novels have greatly influenced Russian writers, and since the beginning of the 20th century have been increasingly influential abroad.
Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924): Topic Page
Czech novelist writing in German. In his two main novels The Trial (1925) and The Castle (1926), published posthumously against his wishes, he portrays man's fear, isolation, and bewilderment in a nightmarish dehumanized world.

20th Century Existentialists

Albert Camus (1913 - 1960): Topic Page
French novelist, dramatist, and essayist, noted for his pessimistic portrayal of man's condition of isolation in an absurd world.
Andre Gide (1869 - 1951): Topic Page
French writer noted for his diaries and novels, such as The Immoralist (1902) and Lafcadio's Adventures (1914), which examine alienation and the drive for individuality in an often disapproving society.
Gabriel Marcel (1889 - 1973): Topic Page
French philosopher and playwright, a major representative of French existential thought.
Karl Jaspers (1883 - 1969): Topic Page
German psychiatrist, philosopher, and theologian. A founder of modern existentialism, he was concerned with human reactions to extreme situations.
Miguel de Unamuno (1864 - 1936): Topic Page
Spanish philosopher and writer. His novels, poetry, and philosophical studies, such as The Tragic Sense of Life (1913) often address the conflict between reason and faith and the solitary nature of human existence.
Nicolai Berdyaev (1874 - 1948)
From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Russian religious thinker. He began as a “Kantian Marxist” in epistemology, ethical theory, and philosophy of history, but soon turned away from Marxism (although he continued to accept Marx’s critique of capitalism) toward a theistic philosophy of existence.
Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989): Topic Page
Samuel Beckett achieved worldwide fame in 1953 with his play Waiting for Godot. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969 and was a hugely influential figure in twentieth-century drama.

Terms & Concepts

Angst
From The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
German term for a special form of anxiety, an emotion seen by existentialists as both constituting and revealing the human condition.
Anxiety: Topic Page
Anticipatory tension or vague dread persisting in the absence of a specific threat. In contrast to fear, which is a realistic reaction to actual danger, anxiety is generally related to an unconscious threat.
Authenticity
From The Encyclopedia of Ethics
The term, introduced into existentialist philosophy by Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), was popularized by Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).
Being
From A Dictionary of Philosophy
Usually equivalent in the verbal sense to 'existence' (see is). As the most general property of all reality this is often considered to be the defining subject of metaphysical enquiry.
Consciousness: Topic Page
The state of being aware of oneself and one's surroundings, without hindrance from sleep, illness, drugs, or hypnotism. This awareness is not purely of external events or phenomena, but also of one's own feelings, beliefs, and mental events.
Facticity
From The Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis
A term utilized by Heidegger to characterize the matter-of-fact, concretely individual aspect of human life as it is experientially lived.
Lebenswelt
From Dictionary of Visual Discourse: A Dialectical Lexicon of Terms
The prescientific life-world, or the concrete world of everyday life prior to all theorizing, science and philosophy.
Nothingness
From The Encyclopedia of Postmodernism
Nothingness is a term denoting the absence of essence or inherent existence in things. Every world philosophy eventually deals with the subject of nothingness.
The Absurd
From A Dictionary of Philosophy, Macmillan
That which has no meaning, reason, or purpose despite a human need or prima facie appearance to the contrary.

Related Schools of Thought

Humanism
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Philosophical and literary movement in which man and his capabilities are the central concern.
Nihilism
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Derived from the Latin nihil, “nothing,” nihilism in ethical discourse is generally defined as the absolute denial or negation of values.
Phenomenology
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Modern school of philosophy founded by Edmund Husserl. Its influence extended throughout Europe and was particularly important to the early development of existentialism.
Postmodernism: Topic Page
Term used to designate a multitude of trends—in the arts, philosophy, religion, technology, and many other areas—that come after and deviate from the many 20th-cent. movements that constituted modernism.