Existentialism is a philosophical movement that developed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. One of the first things one may notice about existentialism is the confusion and disagreement of what it actually is. This is because those who developed it have conflicting ideas. Walter Kaufman, one of the leading existential scholars says, "Certainly, existentialism is not a school of thought nor reducible to any set of tenets. The two writers who appear invariable on every list of existentialists, Heidegger and Sartre, are not in agreement on essentials. By the time we consider adding Rilke, Kafka, and Camus, it becomes plain that one essential feature shared by all these men is their "perfervid individualism." Therefore, a precise definition is impossible, however, it suggests one major theme, a stress on individual existence and the subsequent development of personal essence.
Man is the only known being, according to existentialists, that defines itself merely through the act of living. In other words, first you exist, and then the individual emerges as life decisions are made. Freedom of choice, through which each human being creates their own nature, is one of the basic themes. Because individuals are free
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to choose their own path, existentialists have argued that they must accept the risk and responsibility of their actions. If this force exists, why do men suffer? If it does not exist, why not commit suicide and shorten your suffering? These questions indicate the confusion of existentialism. If one makes a decision, he or she must follow through. This dark and depressing view of human life leads existentialists to reject ideas such as happiness, enlightenment, optimism, a sense of well-being, since these can only reflect a superficial understanding of life, or a naïve and foolish way of denying the despairing, tragic aspect of human existence. It may surprise laypersons that many of existentialists were religious.
Many existentialists believe the greatest victory of the individual is to realize the absurdity of life and to accept it. To exist as a human being is inexplicable, and absurd.
Existentialism agrees with certain ideas in Christianity and Judaism, which see human existence as fallen from grace, and humans have lived in suffering, guilt, and anxiety. Americans learned the term "existential" after World War II. Existentialism has little to do with faith or the lack thereof. Man is a conscious subject, rather than a thing to be predicted or manipulated, he exists as a conscious being, and not in accordance with any definition, essence, generalization, or system.
Every person spends a lifetime changing his or her essence. A second existentialist theme is that of anxiety, or the sense of anguish, a generalized uneasiness, and a fear or dread that is not directed to any specific object. He goes further with this, saying that all individuals must act as though all of mankind is watching and being guided by what he does. It is the claim that anguish is the underlying, all-pervasive, universal condition of human existence.
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