existentialism

A 20th-century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices.

Noun

  1. A 20th-century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices.
    • The heyday of existentialism occurred in the mid-twentieth century.
  2. The philosophical views of a particular thinker associated with the existentialist movement.
    • Sartre's existentialism is atheistic, but the existentialism of Marcel is distinctly Christian.
    • Instead of Existentialism, we should speak of Existentialisms. - 1965 Sep, Mikel Dufrenne, “Existentialism and Existentialisms”, in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, volume 26, number 1, page 51:

Origin

Etymology tree French existentiel Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)der. Latin -ismusbor. French -isme French existentialismebor. English existentialism Borrowed from French existentialisme.

Forms

existentialisms

Antonyms

noumenalism

Related

exist existence existential existentialist