What Does it Mean to be an Existentialist Today?

Abstract

This slightly provocative title is mainly intended to bring into focus the question of the topicality and relevance of existentialism – a vast, unsystematic body of doctrines whose presence has been so vividly felt in such fields of human discourse as philosophy, psychology and psychiatry, literature (novels and dramas) and the visual arts for almost two centuries. It cannot be denied that existentialism or existentialisms¹ is not a front page (if one is allowed to resort to such a criterion in the humanities) phenomenon whose general purport and meaning – or perhaps better mission – is already accomplished. One should, however, be very cautious in using the term existentialism, as it has at least three basic connotations, more often than not lacking in sharp terminological distinctions and shades of meaning.