Existentialism

Existentialism is a philosophy that doesn’t believe in God or transcendent powers, which leaves humans in a state of nothingness that they must define and work with by their own free will in order to thrive. Although definitions of existentialism vary, most will say that the philosophy espouses freedom and choice for each individual. By exercising our own freedom and choice and taking responsibility for our actions, we define our own meaning and thus can avoid suffering, boredom, alienation, nothingness, dread, and the absurdity of humanity that can come from experiencing an “existential crisis,” where life seems to lose all meaning. Existentialism was first defined by Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, but didn’t gain much attention until the 1940s when Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre began to write and speak on all aspects of the philosophy.