Existentialism is a philosophical movement that is generally considered a study that pursues meaning in existence and seeks value for the existing individual. Existentialism, unlike other fields of philosophy, does not treat the individual as a concept, and values individual subjectivity over objectivity. As a result, questions regarding the meaning of life and subjective experience are seen as being of paramount importance, above all other scientific and philosophical pursuits. Existentialism often is associated with anxiety, dread, awareness of death, and freedom. Famous existentialists include Sartre, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Camus, and Heidegger.

Existentialism emphasizes action, freedom, and decision as fundamental to human existence and is fundamentally opposed to the rationalist tradition and to positivism. That is, it argues against definitions of human beings either as primarily rational, knowing beings who relate to reality primarily as an object of knowledge, or for whom action can or ought to be regulated by rational principles, or as beings who can be defined in terms of their behavior as it looks to or is studied by others. More generally it rejects all of the Western rationalist definitions of being in terms of a rational principle or essence or as the most general feature that all existing things share in common. Existentialism tends to view human beings as subjects in an indifferent, objective, often ambiguous, and "absurd" universe in which meaning is not provided by the natural order, but rather can be created, however provisionally and unstably, by human beings' actions and interpretations.

Although there are certain common tendencies among existentialist thinkers, there are major differences and disagreements among them, and not all of them even affiliate themselves with or accept the validity of the term "existentialism". In German, the phrase Existenzphilosophie (philosophy of existence) is also used.

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Q: how many existentialists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
rubidia (Ruby McNulty) Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:05:48 -0000
Q: how many existentialists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
How many existentialists doesnit take to screw in a lightbulb?
hippo_hooray (Khloe) Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:42:44 -0000
How many existentialists doesnit take to screw in a lightbulb?
Getting to know Viktor Frankl and Rollo May. Existentialists.
kay_bu (Kay Bunagan) Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:42:32 -0000
Getting to know Viktor Frankl and Rollo May. Existentialists.
RT @loralogik: @cspanwj But why do you tweet, then? :) // why do the opposite attract? I believe double-you reads the french existentialists
AVRWC (AVRWC) Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:57:47 -0000
RT @loralogik: @cspanwj But why do you tweet, then? :) // why do the opposite attract? I believe double-you reads the french existentialists
"The reason the existentialists became so important to us, had to do, let’s face it, with the horrors of that... http://bit.ly/7RX0Cq
WalkerPercyfilm (Win Riley) Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:59:52 -0000
"The reason the existentialists became so important to us, had to do, let’s face it, with the horrors of that... http://bit.ly/7RX0Cq
"Oh, my God, they found me, I don't know how, but they found me ... Who do you think? The [existentialists]!"
fenris23 (Edward Wilson) Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:13:46 -0000
"Oh, my God, they found me, I don't know how, but they found me ... Who do you think? The [existentialists]!"

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