Existentialism

Basic Tenets of Existentialism: **Existence before essence -** the actual life of the individual is what constitutes what could be called their "true essence" instead of there being an arbitrarily attributed essence others use to define them. Thus, human beings, through their own consciousness, create their own values and determine a meaning to their life. In life, existence can be expressed as the consciousness of our five (5) senses. Existence is awareness of the external through our five (5) senses. Essence is what we create ourselves. We choose our essence; it isn't a given. **The absurd -** there is no meaning in the world beyond what meaning we give it. This meaninglessness also encompasses the amorality or "unfairness" of the world. **Facticity -** is both a limitation and a condition of freedom. It is a limitation in that a large part of one's facticity consists of things one couldn't have chosen (birthplace, etc.), but a condition in the sense that one's values most likely depend on it. **Authenticity -** is that in acting, one should act as oneself, not as "one" acts or as "one's genes" or any other essence requires. **The Other -** when one experiences someone else, and this Other person experiences the world (the same world that a person experiences), only from "over there", the world itself is constituted as objective in that it is something that is "there" as identical for both of the subjects. **The Look -** is the anxious state that comes with the awareness that one can be viewed. **Despair/Dread -** is generally defined as a loss of hope.