Existentialism in Literature

[neilgee]

I ploughed through a large [500+ page] biography of Satre only last year. One of the things that decided me to read it was the thought that at least I'd understand what existentialism was by the end of it, but I was thwarted as both Satre and Camus denied the label and refused to have anything to do with any existentialist movement in their lives.

I found all this denial abit confusing, but at least thanks to DanielBenoit's post I now understand how we define a work as existential

[DanielBenoit]

Originally Posted by neilgee

I ploughed through a large [500+ page] biography of Satre only last year. One of the things that decided me to read it was the thought that at least I'd understand what existentialism was by the end of it, but I was thwarted as both Satre and Camus denied the label and refused to have anything to do with any existentialist movement in their lives.

I found all this denial abit confusing, but at least thanks to DanielBenoit's post I now understand how we define a work as existential

Thanks

The fallout between Camus and Satre was pointless and was purely personal. Now of course there are some major and minor differences in their philosophy, but existentialism is not an ideology, it is a collection of thoughts which all have a common theme. Some of them arrive at opposing conclusions, but they are still considered existential. To clear things up for everyone, here are what is considered to be the most important existential philosophers and writers:

Forerunner:
Blaise Pascal

Key Figures:
Soren Kierkegaard
Friedrich Nietzsche
Fydor Dostoyevsky
Franz Kafka
Martin Heidigger
Martin Buber
Lev Shestov
Jean-Paul Satre
Karl Jaspers
Albert Camus
Simone de Beauvoir
Samuel Beckett
Eugene Ionesco