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existentialism - 3 dictionary results

ex⋅is⋅ten⋅tial⋅ism

  [eg-zi-sten-shuh-liz-uhm, ek-si-]
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–noun Philosophy.
a philosophical attitude associated esp. with Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, and Sartre, and opposed to rationalism and empiricism, that stresses the individual's unique position as a self-determining agent responsible for the authenticity of his or her choices.
Origin:
1940–45; < G Existentialismus (1919); see existential, -ism

Related forms:
ex⋅is⋅ten⋅tial⋅ist, adjective, noun
ex⋅is⋅ten⋅tial⋅is⋅tic, adjective
ex⋅is⋅ten⋅tial⋅is⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ex·is·ten·tial·ism   (ěg'zĭ-stěn'shə-lĭz'əm, ěk'sĭ-)   
n.  A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.
ex'is·ten'tial·ist adj. & n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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existentialism

A movement in twentieth-century literature and philosophy, with some forerunners in earlier centuries. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound anguish or dread. Søren Kierkegaard and Feodor Dostoevsky in the nineteenth century, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Camus in the twentieth century, were existentialist writers.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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