21 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Camus's philosophical response to the absurd — the conflict between the human desire for meaning and the universe's silence — rejecting both suicide and philosophical 'leap' in favor of revolt, freedom, and passion.
Jean-Paul Sartre's phenomenological ontology distinguishing being-in-itself (the brute facticity of things) from being-for-itself (consciousness, which is nothingness negating itself) and developing radical freedom, bad faith, and the conflict of consciousnesses.
Martin Heidegger's foundational work developing existential analytic of Dasein — human existence — as the pathway to recovering the forgotten question of Being.
Philosophical analysis of boredom as a mood revealing the structure of temporality, desire, and meaning — treated by Pascal, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Heidegger as philosophically significant.
Sartre's popular lecture defending existentialism against the charges that it is pessimistic and anarchic, arguing that radical freedom entails radical responsibility and a commitment to all of humanity.
Sartre's 1945 lecture (later published as essay) defending existentialism against its critics — arguing that 'existence precedes essence' is not a doctrine of despair but of responsibility, and that the freedom to define oneself is a burden that constitutes human dignity.
German philosopher — who declared God is dead, introduced the will to power and eternal recurrence, described the Übermensch as a post-nihilistic ideal, and critiqued Socratic rationalism, Christian morality, and the herd mentality — one of the most influential and misappropriated thinkers in history.
Swedish filmmaker who directed The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, and Fanny and Alexander — the director most associated with cinema as a medium for philosophical and theological inquiry — and whose films explore God's silence, death, and the agonies of intimate relationships.
French existentialist philosopher and writer — author of Being and Nothingness, Existentialism is a Humanism, and Nausea — Nobel Prize in Literature (refused, 1964) — who created the secular existentialism philosophy and whose 'existence precedes essence' is the defining existentialist formula.
Viktor Frankl's 1946 account of surviving Auschwitz — arguing that finding meaning in suffering is the primary human drive — founding logotherapy — one of the most widely read books of the 20th century (16M copies).
Austrian-Israeli philosopher who developed dialogical philosophy — centered on the I-Thou relation as the primary human reality — and introduced Hasidic spirituality to Western readers.
Sartre's 1944 one-act play in which three people (Garcin, Inès, Estelle) are condemned to spend eternity together in a single room — and whose conclusion 'Hell is other people' is the most quoted line in existentialist philosophy.
Dostoevsky's 1864 novella narrated by the 'underground man' — an embittered minor official in St. Petersburg who is simultaneously hyper-conscious and paralyzed, who needs the recognition of others and resents them for it — which Girard identified as the purest literary expression of mimetic desire.
American philosopher and YouTube creator whose Pursuit of Wonder channel explores existentialist philosophy, meaning, and the human condition through high-quality video essays — building one of the largest philosophy YouTube audiences.
French existentialist philosopher and feminist — author of The Second Sex (1949) — partner of Jean-Paul Sartre — whose 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman' is the foundational statement of social constructionist feminism.
Danish philosopher — author of Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, and Concluding Unscientific Postscript — who created existentialism's foundational concepts (anxiety, leap of faith, authenticity) and attacked both Hegelian system-building and Danish State Church complacency.
Danish philosopher and theologian who developed the existentialist account of authentic selfhood through the three stages of existence (aesthetic, ethical, religious) and attacked the systematic philosophy of Hegel as irrelevant to the individual's infinite passion.
Albert Camus's philosophical concept denoting the confrontation between human beings' drive to find clear meaning and the world's unreasonable silence in response to that demand.
Walker Percy's 1961 National Book Award-winning debut novel — about Binx Bolling, a New Orleans stockbroker who attends movies compulsively while searching for meaning — the most philosophically sophisticated American Southern novel.
Albert Camus's 1942 philosophical essay arguing that the fundamental question of philosophy is whether life is worth living in the face of absurdity (the conflict between humans' need for meaning and the universe's silence) — concluding that one must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Albert Camus's 1942 novel — about Meursault, the emotionally detached Algerian who kills an Arab and is condemned as much for his lack of grief at his mother's death as for the murder — the defining absurdist novel.