A philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.
Existentialism is a derivative of nihilism coined by Søren Kierkegaard in in the 1800s. Rather than focusing on abstract questions Kierkegaard focused his questions around human existence. To me, this is much more goal oriented. Instead of asking the question “do I have free will?” Kierkegaard asks “how can I, as a creature that exists, experience freedom or obtain free will?“.
Man is what he is not and is not what he is. -Sartre
Later on in the 1900s, a much more prominent figure Jean-Paul Sartre become a leading exponent of existentialism for his belief that existence precedes essence. What he means by that is before anything can have meaning, it must first exist. Sartre also defines two types of beings, “beings-for-themselves” and “beings-in-themselves”. An “in-itself” has its entire conception of purpose and life already defined and laid out for it. For example, a brick is just a brick. It will always be a brick, and it does not wonder about the purpose of its life or what life is. It just exists, and just is. A “for-itself” being however, exists to define itself and give itself a purpose. It is a fundamental negation. When Sartre says “man is what he is not and is not what he is”, he defines humans as “for-themselves” beings.
Hell is other people. -Sartre
To understand this quote, we need to understand the concept of the Other. The Other is simply any other being that is not the Self. Through the Other, the Self becomes aware of its own being through objectivity (in the presence of others we become aware of ourselves as an object in the world subject to judgement). Hell is other people encapsulates the idea that the presence of the Other causes a loss of freedom for the self and that a portion of our self-identity and existence becomes dependant on how we are perceived. In Sartre’s No Exit, this loss of independence is “Hell” since it denies the self the opportunity to define itself independently of external influences (the Other). Therefore, Sartre isn’t talking about interactions or relationships themselves as torturous, but rather is highlighting an existential condition where one’s self-definition is bound and compromised by the Other. This is something that needs to be actively recognized and addressed.
Use this view as a lens to view social interaction and reflect on why people make the decisions that they do considering the Other.