Existentialists

Existentialists are philosophers and writers associated with existentialism, a philosophical movement that emphasizes human existence, freedom, and responsibility. They study how individuals confront the realities of life—death, choice, isolation—and how meaning is created rather than given. Central concerns include authenticity, bad faith, angst, and the tension between subjective experience and an indifferent or absurd world.

Key figures include Søren Kierkegaard, often seen as a precursor; Friedrich Nietzsche, who argued that there is no fixed, universal morality; and 20th-century figures such as Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and Karl Jaspers, with others like Merleau-Ponty and Gabriel Marcel sometimes grouped with the movement. While some thinkers explicitly identify as existentialists, others are described as sharing existential themes without embracing the label.

Core ideas vary: Sartre's dictum that existence precedes essence posits that humans define themselves through action; Camus highlights the absurd and the rebellion against it; Heidegger emphasizes being-in-the-world and authenticity; de Beauvoir applies existentialist ethics to gender and oppression. Religious or spiritual existentialists, such as Kierkegaard and later theologians influenced by existentialism, emphasize faith as a form of existential commitment.

Impact and reception: Existentialist ideas shaped literature, drama, theology, psychology, and critical theory in the mid-20th century. The label is debated; some scholars view existentialism as a loose collection of themes rather than a single doctrine, while others describe it as a coherent school with shared concerns about human freedom and meaning.