History UsefulNotes / Existentialism

The TropeCodifier of Existentialism was the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in his famous statement "Existence precedes essence. " From this philosophy, meaning and our purpose in life (essence) is not predefined by a higher power (like God or destiny) but rather is the product of one's own finite existence and how he choose to live life. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. However, as Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the concept of Existentialism identifies a particular strain of thought and idea across a diverse range of philosophical ideologies, rather than invent an entirely new dogma out of whole cloth. The earliest influences of Existentialism included UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, the works of [[Creator/SorenKierkegaard Søren Kierkegaard]] and St. Augustine of Hippo, the literature of novelists Creator/FyodorDostoevsky and Creator/LeoTolstoy, the Book of Ecclesiastes, Ancient Greek Tragedy, Epicureanism and Cynicism, etc. But before Sartre, the biggest TropeMaker and popular stereotype of Existentialism (as the cynical StrawNihilist who tries to find meaning in life in a CrapsackWorld without God) was arguably the pessimist Arthur Schopenhauer and his late student, the notorious atheist Creator/FriedrichNietzsche.

* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' feature heavy existentialist themes, often questioning the meaning of life and existence through the eyes of androids and robotic characters in a crapsack, nihilistic world.

* The {{aesop}} of ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}''; is: "Having a singular passion or purpose in life is great, but it's not the same as living, nor is it the one thing about your life that can/should make you happy. It's the little things in-between the exciting ones that make life worth living."

-->-- '''Søren Kierkegaard''', a precursor to existentialism

It is important to stress that, befitting a philosophy of individuality and self-created meaning, thinkers both pre-existential, existential, and post-existential differ wildly in their conclusions and their sentiments. You'll find that many of the people held up as examples of existentialism indignantly claimed that they weren't -- probably a side-effect of the fact that nonconformity is one of the school's main tenets ("Once you label me, you negate me" is a famous line of Kierkegaard's). For instance, Søren Kierkegaard was a devout Lutheran, and some of his works were about [[DeconReconSwitch finding and discovering a new modern approach to religious belief]]. A strain and approach that anticipated and inspired other thinkers interested in reconciling religion with the modern world. Creator/FriedrichNietzsche however was an atheist, as was most of the post-war French thinkers (Sartre, Camus, Beauvoir). Yet even Nietzsche differed from the latter by means of his distinct pessimism, his strong sense of {{Irony}} which allowed him to advocate ideas and views that are inherently contradictory and paradoxical. Active existentialists like Sartre, and his circle of friends, as well as the school of literature and philosophy that he inspired, advocated ideas that were intended to be clear, humanistic, bridge together ideas and views even from sources that were on the opposite spectrum. For Sartre, who was sympathetic to Marxism, existentialism was primarily a means of advocating and advancing social criticism into contemporary society, and criticizing colonialism, racism and advocating social justice. The likes of Creator/AlbertCamus differed with Sartre in his political sympathies and he also rejected the label of existentialism and advocated instead the idea of "the absurd" which was a middle ground between Nietzschean pessimism and Sartrean humanism. As such existentialism was originally, and ''intentionally'' a very diverse school of thought rather than a single authoritative ideology or beliefs. Some historians see it as simply a cultural and intellectual movement rather than a real philosophy. That's about as far as we can cover the philosophical side of existentialism.

* German Neurologist Dr. Hans Georg Häusel wrote books about human drives/will, where he connected the phenomena described by Nietzsche, Sartre, Kierkegaard etc. to several brain structures. He theorized that humans have 3 main motivations: Nietzschean Will to Power, Heideggerian Existential Angst, and something which is similar to Kierkegaards "Aesthethic Stage". His works are frequently taught in German advertising lectures. For example , often, in these lectures, it is recommended to apply to the "Aesthethic stage" to advertise food and beverages, to apply to Existential Angst to advertise everything security related, and to apply to the will to power for the advertisement of "efficient" tools and machinery.

The TropeCodifier of Existentialism was the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in his famous statement "Existence precedes essence. " From this philosophy, meaning and our purpose in life (essence) is not predefined by a higher power (like God or destiny) but rather is the product of one's own finite existence and how he choose to live life. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. However, as Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the concept of Existentialism identifies a particular strain of thought and idea across a diverse range of philosophical ideologies, rather than invent an entirely new dogma out of whole cloth. The earliest influences of Existentialism included UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, the works of Søren Kierkegaard and St. Augustine of Hippo, the literature of novelists Creator/FyodorDostoevsky and Creator/LeoTolstoy, the Book of Ecclesiastes, Ancient Greek Tragedy, Epicureanism and Cynicism, etc. But before Sartre, the biggest TropeMaker and popular stereotype of Existentialism (as the cynical StrawNihilist who tries to find meaning in life in a CrapsackWorld without God) was arguably the pessimist Arthur Schopenhauer and his late student, the notorious atheist Creator/FriedrichNietzsche.

It is important to stress that, befitting a philosophy of individuality and self-created meaning, thinkers both pre-existential, existential, and post-existential differ wildly in their conclusions and their sentiments. You'll find that many of the people held up as examples of existentialism indignantly claimed that they weren't -- probably a side-effect of the fact that nonconformity is one of the school's main tenets ("Once you label me, you negate me" is a famous line of Kierkegaard's). For instance, Søren Kierkegaard was a Protestant Priest and a devout Christian, and some of his works were about [[DeconReconSwitch finding and discovering a new modern approach to religious belief]]. A strain and approach that anticipated and inspired other thinkers interested in reconciling religion with the modern world. Creator/FriedrichNietzsche however was an atheist, as was most of the post-war French thinkers (Sartre, Camus, Beauvoir). Yet even Nietzsche differed from the latter by means of his distinct pessimism, his strong sense of {{Irony}} which allowed him to advocate ideas and views that are inherently contradictory and paradoxical. Active existentialists like Sartre, and his circle of friends, as well as the school of literature and philosophy that he inspired, advocated ideas that were intended to be clear, humanistic, bridge together ideas and views even from sources that were on the opposite spectrum. For Sartre, who was sympathetic to Marxism, existentialism was primarily a means of advocating and advancing social criticism into contemporary society, and criticizing colonialism, racism and advocating social justice. The likes of Creator/AlbertCamus differed with Sartre in his political sympathies and he also rejected the label of existentialism and advocated instead the idea of "the absurd" which was a middle ground between Nietzschean pessimism and Sartrean humanism. As such existentialism was originally, and ''intentionally'' a very diverse school of thought rather than a single authoritative ideology or beliefs. Some historians see it as simply a cultural and intellectual movement rather than a real philosophy. That's about as far as we can cover the philosophical side of existentialism.

--> "We are God's unwanted children? So be it!" '''Tyler'''
* ''Film/LaJetee'' has probably one of the most beautiful quotes ever to describe this philosophy: "Time builds itself painlessly around them. Their only landmarks are the flavor of the moment they are living and the markings on the walls."

%% Entries marked as %% are ZeroCotextExamples. They do not demonstrate what the work has to do with existentialism and are not allowed on wiki pages. Add context before uncommenting them.

* ''LightNovel/BlackBullet''. Yes, just because you live [[CrapsackWorld in a shitty world]] where the Gastrea virus have killed off a good portion of humanity and [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer societies treating the cursed children as total trash]], doesn't necessarily mean that you should just fall over and die, you do have some purpose to live. [[spoiler:Case in point, when Rentaro lost his right leg, right arm, and left eye 10 years ago for saving Kisara's life, he was rushed to the hospital and was given two sheets of paper. One was a death certificate, the other was a contract that will allow Rentaro to live with ArtificialLimbs and become a mechanized soldier through the "New Human Creation Plan." Encouraged by the words of his foster father ("If you don't want to die, live"), Rentaro decided to pick the latter and signed up for the "New Human Creation Plan;" feeling that he has a purpose in life.]]
** The existentialist themes are highlighted further [[spoiler: at the end of volume 6. While Kisara and Rentaro do not agree with their ethics and their purpose of life [[note]]Kisara's dedication of revenge on her Tendo family lineage and Rentaro's utilitarian ethics of "[[TheNeedsOfMany sacrificing his own happiness for the sake of others]]"[[/note]], they accept each other [[BeYourself as who]] [[IAmWhatIAm they are]] and prefer not to stop each other as they see their reason for their existence to be subjective.]]
* ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet''. The protagonist, Ledo, was raised as a ChildSoldier with one goal in life, to defeat the Hideauze in a never-ending war. However, when he ended up in the ocean planet known as Earth, Ledo [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife slowly begins to question his own purpose in life]] and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman wonder what it's means to be an actual human being]]. [[spoiler: This philosophy is also used to deconstruct the Galactic Alliance's utiltiarian ethics, as it shows that human nature is [[GreyAndGrayMorality too complex]] for humanity in space to be limited to a single objective (which is destroying the Hideauze) and fails to put into consideration that humanity in general can change as evident with Ledo's CharacterDevelopment. In addition, Ledo also accepts the reality that has kept hidden by the Galactic Alliance, such as the truth that the Hideauze are actually genetically modified humans.]]

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' features several nods to existentialism. They talk a lot about freedom of choice and despair The ending of the anime is basically a kierkegaardian leap of faith to protect people from despair. The Rebellion movie has a lot of Nietzschean themes and quotes his famous "god is dead". Homuras journey of doing the same "pointless" task over and over to protect herself from despair is similar to Nietzsches eternal return as well as Albert Camus "Myth of Sysiphus".

You see, existentialism is one of those rare serious intellectual strains whose ideas entered the cultural lexicon and became important and relevant to mainstream popular culture. One reason for this is that the original existentialists actually wrote for a non-academic audience, and by means of word-of-mouth, the ForeignCultureFetish for Americans for forties and fifties' UsefulNotes/{{France}}, and the counter-culture of TheSixties and TheSeventies, the ideas spread and inspired much popular philosophy, campus radicals, literary and genre fiction, popular musicians and film-makers. Such works differ in many ways from philosophical existentialism for the understandable reason that as works of entertainment, they are more interested in using it as sources of conflict and dramatic tension, than as serious philosophical inquiry and research. Existentialist ideas inform works of art by [[TrueArtIsAngsty providing greater inner conflict and tension]] as well as [[TropesAreTools a source and method]] for deeper characterization. It led to the introduction of general ambiguity; a questioning of motives, and separating motivation from actions in manners that are supposed to make the audience question their identification with the protagonist. Audiences became reluctant to accept a character doing something right on face value; it became important to know what that particular "right thing" was, how did this character decide if it was "right" or not, or if [[JustFollowingOrders said character did it because someone else told him it was right]]. Stories inspired by existentialism often paved the way for conclusions that were [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow tentative]], [[TheEndOrIsIt skeptical]], and [[GainaxEnding unresolved]], even when the plots were otherwise simple and straightforward. It also leads to stories with MoralityKitchenSink and GrayAndGreyMorality. Existentialist works can be tragic, pessimistic and end on a DownerEnding but it can also be affirmative, optimistic, have BittersweetEnding and EarnYourHappyEnding.

* ThePunisher has made it his purpose in life to kill as many criminals as he can. Everything he does is based on attaining this goal. He knows he can't kill them all, ''but it won't be for lack of trying.''

* ''VideoGame/TheFriendsOfRingoIshikawa'' deals with troubled youth in Japan who are looking for a purpose in their lives outside of gambling, smoking, and meaningless gang wars. *''Franchise/MassEffect'': While rarely directly concerning itself with philosophy, the solution to basically every problem Shepard helps solve is to teach the involved parties to determine their own fates and overcome prejudices that prevented a peaceful compromise.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': While rarely directly concerning itself with philosophy, the solution to basically every problem Shepard helps solve is to teach the involved parties to determine their own fates and overcome prejudices that prevented a peaceful compromise.

Existentialism gained popularity in TheForties in France where it was used in club debates [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness after early resistance]]. It emerged during the time of the Modernist movement (amidst incomprehensible scientific discoveries that inspired LovecraftianFiction, and of course the horrors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which contributed to further [[TrueArtIsAngsty popularity of Angst in the arts]]), when Jean-Paul Sartre [[TropeCodifier codified]] existential philosophy with three words: "Existence precedes essence." It was the reverse of most previous philosophical thought, which held that the essence (soul, purpose, meaning) of a thing came first. Existentialism coevolved with, and takes tropes and inspirations from, the artistic movement of PostModernism, which [[NoFourthWall dissolves the boundary between life and art and reality and fiction]]. Both are connected by the philosophy that life is art, and you can live your life as your own creative art.

* Alexander Dugin, who is an advisor of Vladimir Putin (some even suspect his main influence) and who is connected to a large group of radical politicians from all over the world (ranging from Syriza in greece, to Front National in France to some politicians of the Alternative for Germany, Turkey and Japan) is strongly influenced by existentialism and wants to change the subject of political theory from class/race/individualism to Dasein/Existence. Dugin wrote several books on Heidegger, stated that US americans need to adopt existentialist ideas to thrive, and published an article where he used the philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre to analyse David Bowie. During his early days, he and Eduard Limonov used Punk/Heavy Metal music concerts as a platform to advertise their philosophy.
* Both Ayn Rand and Julius Evola critizised Existentialism, while at the same time making extremely similar points and referring to Existentialist authors like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. In case of Julius Evola, his philosophy was later combined with existentialist ideas by philosophers like Alain de Benoist and Alexander Dugin. (In fact, most of the european new right is basically a fusion of Heideggerian Existentialism and Evolaian traditionalism.)
* German Neurologist Dr. Hans Georg Häusel wrote books about human drives/will, where he connected the phenomena described by Nietzsche, Sartre, Kierkegaard etc. to several brain structures. He theorized that humans have 3 main motivations: Nietzschean Will to Power, Heideggerian Existential Angst, and something which is similar to Kierkegaards "Aesthethic Stage". His works are frequently taught in german advertising lectures. For example , often, in these lectures, it is recommended to apply to the "Aesthethic stage" to advertise food and baveraged, to apply to Existential Angst to advertise everything security related, and to apply to the will to power for the advertisement of "efficient" tools and machinery.

* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock}}'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' is generally a {{Deconstruction}} of the notion of player choice, stated beliefs, motivations and actions. The first game articulates is by means of Nietzsche via Creator/AynRand:

The TropeCodifier of Existentialism was the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in his famous statement "Existence precedes essence. " From this philosophy, meaning and our purpose in life (essence) is not predefined by a higher power (like God or destiny) but rather is the product of one's own finite existence and how he choose to live life. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. However, as Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the concept of Existentialism identifies a particular strain of thought and idea across a diverse range of philosophical ideologies, rather than invent an entirely new dogma out of whole cloth. The earliest influences of Existentialism included UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, the works of Søren Kierkegaard, the literature of novelists Creator/FyodorDostoevsky and Creator/LeoTolstoy, the Book of Ecclesiastes, the works of St. Augustine of Hippo, Ancient Greek Tragedy, Epicureanism and Cynicism, etc. But before Sartre, the biggest TropeMaker and popular stereotype of Existentialism (as the cynical StrawNihilist who tries to find meaning in life in a CrapsackWorld without God) was arguably the pessimist Arthur Schopenhauer and his late student, the notorious atheist Creator/FriedrichNietzsche.

The TropeCodifier of Existentialism was the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in his famous statement "Existence precedes essence. " From this philosophy, meaning and our purpose in life (essence) is not predefined by a higher power (like God or destiny) but rather is the product of one's own finite existence and how he choose to live life. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. However, as Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the concept of Existentialism identifies a particular strain of thought and idea across a diverse range of philosophical ideologies, rather than invent an entirely new dogma out of whole cloth. The earliest influences of Existentialism included UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, the works of Søren Kierkegaard, the literature of novelists Creator/FyodorDostoevsky and Creator/LeoTolstoy, the Book of Ecclesiastes, Ancient Greek Tragedy, Epicureanism and Cynicism etc. But before Sartre, the biggest TropeMaker and popular stereotype of Existentialism (as the cynical StrawNihilist who tries to find meaning in life in a CrapsackWorld without God) was arguably the pessimist Arthur Schopenhauer and his late student, the notorious atheist Creator/FriedrichNietzsche.

'''Inquisitor(as Rimmer)''': It's a bit metaphysical but it's the only fair way.\\

Existentialism, is the name given to a philosophical worldview that came into prominence and consciousness in the late forties and early fifties. It articulated itself as [[PostSomethingIsm a response]] to the soul-crushingly [[TheFatalist fatalistic]], [[WhatIsEvil morally relativistic]], DarknessInducedAudienceApathy-fostering worldview of [[StrawNihilist Nihilism]]. A tragic consequence of the scientific scepticism of [[UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment The Enlightenment]], Nihilism {{deconstruct|ion}}s and rejects all ethics, ideals and meanings in life as meaningless unproven lies (e.g., science can't differentiate which {{morality|Tropes}} exists and which is {{propaganda|Piece}}). Alternatives to nihilism, such as religion, art, culture, society, ideology, nationalism, science, modernity, material wealth, fame and social respectability, came to seem as both unfulfilling and inadequate.

The TropeCodifier of Existentialism was the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in his famous statement "Existence precedes essence. " From this philosophy, meaning and our purpose in life (essence) is not predefined by a higher power (like God or destiny) but rather is the product of one's own finite existence and how he choose to live life. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. However, as Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the concept of Existentialism identifies a particular strain of thought and idea across a diverse range of philosophical ideologies, rather than invent an entirely new dogma out of whole cloth. The earliest influences of Existentialism included UsefulNotes/Buddhism, the works of Søren Kierkegaard, the literature of novelists Creator/FyodorDostoevsky and Creator/LeoTolstoy, the Book of Ecclesiastes, Ancient Greek Tragedy, Epicureanism and Cynicism etc. But before Sartre, the biggest TropeMaker and popular stereotype of Existentialism (as the cynical StrawNihilist who tries to find meaning in life in a CrapsackWorld without God) was arguably the pessimist Arthur Schopenhauer and his late student, the notorious atheist Creator/FriedrichNietzsche.

Existentialism, also known as [[TheAntiNihilist Anti-nihilism]], is the name given to a philosophical worldview that came into prominence and consciousness in the late forties and early fifties. It articulated itself as [[PostSomethingIsm a response]] to the soul-crushingly [[TheFatalist fatalistic]], [[WhatIsEvil morally relativistic]], DarknessInducedAudienceApathy-fostering worldview of [[StrawNihilist Nihilism]]. A tragic consequence of the scientific scepticism of [[UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment The Enlightenment]], Nihilism {{deconstruct|ion}}s and rejects all ethics, ideals and meanings in life as meaningless unproven lies (e.g., science can't differentiate which {{morality|Tropes}} exists and which is {{propaganda|Piece}}). Alternatives to nihilism, such as religion, art, culture, society, ideology, nationalism, science, modernity, material wealth, fame and social respectability, came to seem as both unfulfilling and inadequate.

An existential worldview asserts the importance of active engagement, personal choice, and commitment. It shifts the focus away from ends to means. What you do and how you do certain actions matter as much as your reasons, motivations and justifications for the same. The existentialist agrees that "meaning" is an empty word, [[HumansAreFlawed our life sucks]] and [[YouCantFightFate there's nothing we can do about it]]. However, they also point out that each individual has the choice to ''make the most out of each hour of their empty lives''. Those who choose to spend it being bored, following others, {{wangst}}ing endlessly, adhering to [[ItAmusedMe hedonism]], or ForTheEvulz are ignoring their responsibility to themselves and to society, and are potentially [[SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers wasting their real virtues and qualities]]. As Creator/JeanPaulSartre said, "Man is condemned to be free", by which he meant that we have no choice but make a choice of some kind or another, some way or other to accommodate our selves with our lot in life. The term "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existential_angst#Angst Existential]] {{Angst}}" was even coined to describe the sudden feeling of QuicksandBox it gave them, especially if they had just abandoned the FreedomFromChoice provided by both religion and social peer pressure.

Existentialism is the name given to a philosophical worldview that came into prominence and consciousness in the late forties and early fifties. It articulated itself as [[PostSomethingIsm a response]] to the soul-crushingly [[TheFatalist fatalistic]], [[WhatIsEvil morally relativistic]], DarknessInducedAudienceApathy-fostering worldview of [[StrawNihilist Nihilism]]. A tragic consequence of the scientific scepticism of [[UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment The Enlightenment]], Nihilism {{deconstruct|ion}}s and rejects all ethics, ideals and meanings in life as meaningless unproven lies (e.g., science can't differentiate which {{morality|Tropes}} exists and which is {{propaganda|Piece}}). Alternatives to nihilism, such as religion, art, culture, society, ideology, nationalism, science, modernity, material wealth, fame and social respectability, came to seem as both unfulfilling and inadequate.

The term existentialism came into prominence in TheForties in France where it was used in club debates, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and after early resistance]], adopted by Sartre as a label and category defining his philosophy. The term "existentialism" seems to have been coined by the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel. As Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the philosophy [[TropeCodifier codifies]] and identifies a particular strain of thought and idea, rather than invent something new out of whole cloth. As such one can find ideas similar to, or anticipating existentialism, in the works of Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer and Creator/FriedrichNietzsche, as well as a host of other novelists (Creator/FyodorDostoevsky, Creator/LeoTolstoy for instance) and dramatists and other artists. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. It gained popularity in the early 1940s around the time of the Modernist movement (amidst incomprehensible scientific discoveries that inspired LovecraftianFiction, and of course the horrors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which contributed to further [[TrueArtIsAngsty popularity of Angst in the arts]]), when Jean-Paul Sartre [[TropeCodifier codified]] existential philosophy with three words: "Existence precedes essence." It was the reverse of most previous philosophical thought, which held that the essence (soul, purpose, meaning) of a thing came first. Existentialism coevolved with, and takes tropes and inspirations from, the artistic movement of PostModernism, which [[NoFourthWall dissolves the boundary between life and art and reality and fiction]]. Both are connected by the philosophy that life is art, and you can live your life as your own creative art.

The term existentialism came into prominence in TheForties in France where it was used in club debates, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and after early resistance]], adopted by Sartre as a label and category defining his philosophy. The term "existentialism" seems to have been coined by the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel. As Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the philosophy [[TropeCodifier codifies]] and identifies a particular strain of thought and idea, rather than invent something new out of whole cloth. As such one can find ideas similar to, or anticipating existentialism, in the works of Soren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer and Creator/FriedrichNietzsche, as well as a host of other novelists (Creator/FyodorDostoevsky, Creator/LeoTolstoy for instance) and dramatists and other artists. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. It gained popularity in the early 1940s around the time of the Modernist movement (amidst incomprehensible scientific discoveries that inspired LovecraftianFiction, and of course the horrors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which contributed to further [[TrueArtIsAngsty popularity of Angst in the arts]]), when Jean-Paul Sartre [[TropeCodifier codified]] existential philosophy with three words: "Existence precedes essence." It was the reverse of most previous philosophical thought, which held that the essence (soul, purpose, meaning) of a thing came first. Existentialism coevolved with, and takes tropes and inspirations from, the artistic movement of PostModernism, which [[NoFourthWall dissolves the boundary between life and art and reality and fiction]]. Both are connected by the philosophy that life is art, and you can live your life as your own creative art.

The term existentialism came into prominence in TheForties in France where it was used in club debates, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and after early resistance]], adopted by Sartre as a label and category defining his philosophy. The term "existentialism" seems to have been coined by the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel. As Sartre, and others, noted in his works, the philosophy [[TropeCodifier codifies]] and identifies a particular strain of thought and idea, rather than invent something new out of whole cloth. As such one can find ideas similar to, or anticipating existentialism, in the works of Kierkegaard and Creator/FriedrichNietzsche, as well as a host of other novelists (Creator/FyodorDostoevsky, Creator/LeoTolstoy for instance) and dramatists and other artists. Sartre himself went further, citing Jesus's words on the cross in the Gospel of Matthew [[note]]"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"[[/note]]. It gained popularity in the early 1940s around the time of the Modernist movement (amidst incomprehensible scientific discoveries that inspired LovecraftianFiction, and of course the horrors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which contributed to further [[TrueArtIsAngsty popularity of Angst in the arts]]), when Jean-Paul Sartre [[TropeCodifier codified]] existential philosophy with three words: "Existence precedes essence." It was the reverse of most previous philosophical thought, which held that the essence (soul, purpose, meaning) of a thing came first. Existentialism coevolved with, and takes tropes and inspirations from, the artistic movement of PostModernism, which [[NoFourthWall dissolves the boundary between life and art and reality and fiction]]. Both are connected by the philosophy that life is art, and you can live your life as your own creative art.