The Concept of Existentialism: Search for Meaning and Freedom

Existentialism is one of the terms that derive its meaning from intellectual history and philosophy. The term was adopted through the postwar era. It is a philosophical concept that presents wide dissemination of information of mid-20th century society. Therefore, existentialism became a common term that identified cultural movements in the 1940s to 1950s as described by significant authors such as Heidegger and Camus. It was understood from a literary perspective that acted as a precursor to different movements created during the post-war era.

Existentialism offers a set of philosophical inquiry that considers the human subject as a living individual. It was one of the most critical issues in Europe in the mid-20th century. Its primary focus was to have a conventional interpretation of human existence. Thus, human life is viewed as a factor that stresses on concreteness and problematic character since it also defines the problematic aspect of human beings. It is a philosophy that defines an individual's existence, freedom, and choice. It tends to describe humans as people that set their meaning to life who are in a position to make rational decisions. It tends to focus on the question of human existence. It holds that there is no other form of life in reality beyond the human and that there is no God or any other transcendence force. Embracing existence is, therefore, valued as an essential context in human life.

Understanding the concept of existentialism requires an individual to master the fact that humans are entirely free and take personal responsibility for their actions. Action, freedom, and decision are fundamental aspects needed for a person to rise beyond the essentiality of an absurd condition. Apart from such descriptions, existentialism has often been used as a movement. When used from such perspective, then the term can be understood as a factor that describes a group of people who do not belong to any school of thought

The concept of existentialism has had a different impact on society. For instance, ideas linked to philosophical strategy emerged when there were dynamic problems facing industrialized countries. It trailed the Great Depression and World War II. Therefore, post-war and post-economic aspects contributed to diverse notions associated with the theory. There was a spirit of optimism after the destruction of World War I and other calamities noted during the mid-centuries. Furthermore, existentialism continued to impact society through thinking and reasoning with the freedom to choose belief systems associated with social values and other aspects that directly and indirectly influenced people's freedom to decide on a specified belief system or lifestyle.

Existentialist was often known to have a direct and indirect influence in society. For example, such people were a religious, moralist, or amoral atheist. One of the religious philosophers linked to this belief system was Kierkegaard, an anti-Christian and Sartre, an atheist. The two examples dedicated their writings and literary work, defining dynamic aspects surrounding externalism. Sartre's work raised international concerns regarding externalism during the 20th century. A similar case was noted with the work of another externalist. However, they often argued from different points of view. Each of them agreed that human life does not fully satisfy because of the many challenges noted in the world. Sufferings and losses were commonly discussed by externalist as the primary factors that limited individuals from having a perfection of human life. The other issue was the power control of people's lives. Thus, they all agree that life does not offer a satisfactory meaning to a human.

Additionally, existentialism stresses that a person's belief should determine what is to be believed compared to the case where people believed something based on religious or secular world values. It, therefore, believes that a society that imposes beliefs or values on its people destroys individualism and reduces their ability to act based on what the dominant group in the society desires. As such, the human being becomes dehumanized and thus reduced to an object. As a result, judgment is highly valued as one of the practices that define an individual's ability to understand the world based on reasoning rather than influenced thoughts or beliefs.