existentialism - Concepts

Explore concepts tagged with "existentialism"

Total concepts: 11

Concepts

Categorical Desires - Desires that give us reasons to continue living, as opposed to conditional desires that assume we are already alive.
Absurdism - Camus's philosophy confronting the conflict between human meaning-seeking and an indifferent universe.
Existential Vacuum - A state of inner emptiness and meaninglessness that arises when a person lacks purpose or direction in life.
Existential Authenticity - Living true to oneself by taking responsibility for creating one's own meaning and values.
Noogenic Neurosis - A form of neurosis originating from existential frustration and lack of meaning rather than from psychological or biological causes.
Ultimate Meaning - Frankl's concept that life has unconditional meaning that persists regardless of circumstances, even when it cannot be fully grasped by finite minds.
Philosophical Pessimism - The philosophical tradition holding that existence is fundamentally characterized by suffering and that life contains more pain than happiness.
Mortality Salience - Conscious awareness of one's eventual death and its profound psychological effects on behavior, attitudes, and worldview.
Eternal Recurrence - Nietzsche's thought experiment: would you live your life exactly the same, infinitely?
Tragic Triad - The three inescapable aspects of human existence according to Frankl: pain, guilt, and death.
Dark Night of the Soul - A period of profound spiritual or existential crisis that precedes transformation and deeper self-understanding.