What is existentialism?

Existentialism did not appear suddenly. It grew from ideas developed by 19th-century thinkers who challenged established assumptions about human nature and purpose.

The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) is often called the father of existentialism. He argued that truth is not something learned from a textbook but something each person must discover through lived experience. Kierkegaard criticised the established Church for turning faith into a comfortable routine. He insisted that genuine religious commitment requires a personal, often agonising 'leap of faith.'

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) pushed further. He declared that traditional moral systems had lost their authority — a situation he described as 'God is dead.' This was not a statement of atheism but a diagnosis: the foundations on which European civilisation had built its values were crumbling. Nietzsche challenged individuals to create their own values rather than inherit them passively.

Both thinkers shared a conviction that philosophy must begin with the concrete experience of the individual, not with abstract systems. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes, this emphasis on personal existence, choice, and responsibility laid the groundwork for the existentialist movement that followed.

Existentialism centres on several interconnected themes. Together, they form a distinctive way of understanding human life.

Existence precedes essence

The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) coined the phrase that became existentialism's motto: 'existence precedes essence.' A hammer is designed with a purpose before it is made — its essence comes before its existence. But human beings, Sartre argued, are the opposite. We exist first and then must decide what we will become. There is no predetermined human nature that dictates how we should live.

Freedom and responsibility

If there is no fixed human nature, then individuals are radically free. However, this freedom brings enormous responsibility. We cannot blame God, society, or upbringing for our choices. Sartre wrote that we are 'condemned to be free' — whether we like it or not, we must choose, and we bear full responsibility for those choices.

Authenticity and bad faith

Existentialists distinguished between authentic and inauthentic living. Authenticity means acknowledging your freedom and making genuine choices. 'Bad faith' — Sartre's term — describes the self-deception of pretending you have no choice. A waiter who loses himself entirely in the role, a student who claims 'I had no option' — both are in bad faith.

Anxiety and absurdity

Confronting radical freedom produces anxiety (Angst). The German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) argued that this anxiety reveals the true nature of our existence. Albert Camus (1913–1960) explored a related idea — the absurd — the tension between humanity's desire for meaning and a universe that offers none. Rather than despair, Camus urged defiance: we must imagine, he wrote, that Sisyphus is happy.

Existentialism became a major cultural force during and after World War 2. The experience of occupation, resistance, and mass destruction gave its themes — freedom, choice under extreme pressure, and the absence of guarantees — immediate urgency.

Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir

Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) were the public faces of existentialism in post-war Paris. Sartre's Being and Nothingness (1943) provided the philosophical framework. Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949) applied existentialist ideas to the situation of women, arguing that 'one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.' Both were active in the French Resistance and saw existentialism as inseparable from political engagement.

Albert Camus

Camus edited the Resistance newspaper Combat during the German occupation of France. His novels The Stranger (1942) and The Plague (1947) explored alienation, mortality, and moral choice. Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers

Heidegger's Being and Time (1927) explored human existence, temporality, and authenticity. His legacy, however, is complicated by his involvement with the Nazi Party. Karl Jaspers (1883–1969) developed ideas about limit situations — extreme experiences such as death, guilt, and suffering — that force individuals to confront the meaning of their existence.

Existentialism's influence extended well beyond philosophy into literature, theatre, art, and psychology. Existential psychotherapy, developed by figures such as Viktor Frankl and Rollo May, applies these ideas to help people find meaning in suffering.

Existentialism is not a relic of post-war Europe. Its core questions — how to live authentically, how to create meaning, and how to take responsibility for your choices — remain deeply relevant.

In psychology, existential therapy helps individuals facing anxiety, loss, and identity crises. Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning (1946), written after his imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps, argues that finding purpose is essential to human survival. According to the Viktor Frankl Institute, the book has sold over 16 million copies worldwide.

In literature and film, existentialist themes continue to appear. Works exploring alienation, freedom, and the search for meaning owe a clear debt to Sartre, Camus, and Beauvoir. The questions these thinkers raised also connect to other philosophical traditions, including Stoicism, which similarly asks how individuals should respond to circumstances beyond their control.

For students, existentialism offers a framework for thinking about identity, responsibility, and the choices that shape a life. It encourages critical examination of received ideas and the courage to think independently. In an era of information overload and social pressure, the existentialist emphasis on authenticity is more relevant than ever.