Existentialism

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Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986)

Born amidst the storied streets of Paris on January 9, 1908, Simone de Beauvoir would call this city home for the majority of her days. Her intellectual journey led her to the hallowed halls of the Sorbonne, where destiny introduced her to Jean-Paul Sartre in 1929. This meeting sparked a profound personal and intellectual partnership that flourished for half a century. Renowned primarily for her groundbreaking 1949 work, The Second Sex, Beauvoir delivered a riveting two-volume analysis of women's historical roles. But her talents did not end there; she was also a prolific novelist. With an artful touch, her novels drew from her own life, offering readers vivid portrayals of Paris's dynamic intellectual scene during the forties and fifties. Notable works include She Came to Stay (1949), inspired by her complex entanglement with Sartre and a young student; The Blood of Others (1946), depicting a young man's struggle to remain detached from the political chaos around him; and The Mandarins (1954), which explores the disintegration of the Parisian intellectual community after wartime. The latter earned her the esteemed Goncourt Prize. Beauvoir’s legacy also includes plays and philosophical treatises, leaving an indelible mark on existentialism that lasted until her passing on April 14, 1986.

Albert Camus (1913–1960)

Albert Camus stood as a towering figure in the existentialist movement that burgeoned in Paris during the turbulent years surrounding the Second World War, although he famously shunned the "existentialist" label. Born on November 7, 1913, in Mondovi, Algeria, then under French colonial rule, Camus's early life was shaped by loss. His father, drafted into the army soon after the outbreak of World War I, never returned home. Raised in the embrace of his mother and grandmother, Camus spent his childhood in the modest confines of a three-room apartment in Algiers' working-class district.

Camus pursued his passion for philosophy at the University of Algiers, but upon graduating in 1936, he found himself barred from teaching due to a bout with tuberculosis. Undeterred, he immersed himself in the arts, joining a leftist theater troupe and contributing to a newspaper. His journey led him to Paris on the eve of World War II. In 1942, Camus published what would become a seminal work, The Stranger, a penetrating novel about a man who, propelled by inexplicable forces, kills a stranger. The protagonist’s dispassionate demeanor resonated with the existentialist ethos, catapulting Camus to international acclaim. His subsequent novel, The Plague (1947), offered a poignant allegory of the Nazi occupation, exploring themes of individual resistance against tyrannical forces.

Despite his rising stature, Camus consciously distanced himself from the existentialist circle in Paris, eschewing their Marxist leanings for a more independent political philosophy. His ideological schism with Jean-Paul Sartre grew infamous, casting a shadow over his literary reputation as critics accused him of pandering to the bourgeoisie. Nevertheless, Camus remained a force in theater, both as a playwright and director, and in 1957, his literary prowess was recognized with the Nobel Prize for Literature at the age of forty-three. His life was tragically cut short by an automobile accident near Paris on January 4, 1960.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881)

Fyodor Dostoevsky, the Russian literary giant, delved into the depths of human existence, capturing its tragic essence and the relentless struggle against life's inherent chaos. Born on October 30, 1821, in Moscow, Dostoevsky was the son of a harsh and authoritarian surgeon, whose untimely murder by one of his serfs left a lasting impression on the young writer. Initially charting a course as a military engineer during his academic years, Dostoevsky soon abandoned this path to...

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pursue his true calling as an author. Though his early works garnered attention, they merely hinted at the monumental intellectual feats he would later achieve.

In his twenties, Dostoevsky's involvement with a group of radical socialists led to his arrest and a death sentence—a fate altered at the last moment, leaving him forever marked by the shadow of execution. He endured four years of grueling labor followed by military service. In 1864, he unleashed Notes From the Underground, a concise yet profound narrative highlighting the primacy of freedom over happiness, foreshadowing existentialist themes. His magnum opus, Crime and Punishment, unfolded the existential anguish of a man grappling with the moral fallout of murder. The Possessed and The Idiot further explored humanity’s ethical dilemmas in a world devoid of divine oversight. As his life neared its end, Dostoevsky crafted The Brothers Karamazov, a masterpiece published mere months before his demise from emphysema complications on January 28, 1881. This novel, weaving a tale of fraternal guilt and patricide, mirrored the haunting guilt Dostoevsky bore from his father’s violent death.

Franz Kafka (1883–1924)

Franz Kafka, a master of the written word, penned stories and novels that ventured into the surreal, offering a unique lens on modern life. His works are suffused with themes of alienation, absurdity, and an existential dread that resonate deeply in the realm of existential literature, leaving a lasting impact on the literary world.

Emerging into the world on July 3, 1883, in the heart of Prague, Bohemia—once part of Czechoslovakia—Franz Kafka's childhood unfolded amidst the bustling lanes of Prague’s Jewish ghetto. Trained as a lawyer, he ventured into the realm of government service, where he diligently handled worker's compensation claims. During his lifetime, Kafka gifted the world with several compelling short stories, among them the hauntingly profound The Hunger Artist and the enigmatic The Metamorphosis. Despite his plea for the destruction of his novels upon his passing, his literary executor defied his wishes, preserving and publishing his works. Thus, we have The Trial, a narrative of a man ensnared in a shadowy legal predicament, clueless to the charges against him; and The Castle, which unravels the complexities of an elusive bureaucracy obstructing a man's quest to enter its titular fortress.

Kafka's life came to a premature end due to tuberculosis on June 3, 1924, at just 41 years of age. He believed his literary endeavors were in vain, yet his deep exploration of the dread and bewilderment spawned by modernity cemented his place as one of the twentieth century's most profound literary figures.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)

On May 5, 1813, in the vibrant city of Copenhagen, Denmark, Søren Kierkegaard was born into a life that would lead him from relative obscurity to philosophical renown. His father, rising from the depths of poverty, accumulated substantial wealth, retiring early to dedicate himself to Christian philosophy. At the tender age of eighteen, Kierkegaard embarked on his theological studies at the University of Copenhagen. However, his world turned upside down on his twenty-second birthday, upon discovering his father’s religious hypocrisy—having once cursed God and fathering a child with a servant. This revelation propelled Kierkegaard from the pursuit of religious studies into a world of indulgent excess. A pivotal chapter in his life unfolded at twenty-seven when he became engaged to a striking heiress, only to annul the engagement two days after. Although she married and found happiness, Kierkegaard remained fixated on her throughout his literary journey.

Kierkegaard's oeuvre is a rich tapestry woven with a variety of literary forms—fiction, philosophical treatises, letters, journal entries, aphorisms, and parables. He resisted the confines of established philosophical systems, arguing that no single framework could fully grasp the complexities of existence. His inaugural work, Either/Or, a mosaic of disjointed sketches, sought to impress upon readers that life is a series of pivotal choices. Over time, Kierkegaard produced over twenty books. Among the most notable are Fear and Trembling and The Concept of Dread, which delve into the daunting facets of human freedom. His philosophy, intensively Christian yet critical of organized religion, laid the groundwork for existential thought. Kierkegaard's life concluded in Copenhagen on November 11, 1855. During his lifetime, he faced derision in newspapers and scorn from the clergy, with his works remaining largely unread outside Denmark until the dawn of the twentieth century.

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)

Jean-Paul Sartre stood as the towering figure of French Existentialism, forever altering the landscape of modern thought. Born on June 21, 1905, in the bustling streets of Paris, France, Sartre was nurtured by a middle-class Protestant family. From an early age, he resolved to become a writer, determined to unveil the duplicity of the comfortable existence his family envisioned for him. As a college student, he immersed himself in the realm of philosophy, particularly drawn to Phenomenology—a field exploring the palpable yet enigmatic nature of life. The 1930s witnessed Sartre's fervent engagement with both fiction and philosophy, yielding the novel Nausea in 1938, a work that captured the disconcerting plight of modern humanity. Following this, a collection of short stories solidified his reputation as a literary luminary.

The release of Being and Nothingness in 1943 marked Sartre's emergence as a philosophical powerhouse, where he scrutinized the paradox of human existence—being aware amidst nothingness. Post-World War II, as Existentialism soared to unprecedented popularity, Sartre remained in the global spotlight as a philosopher, writer, and political activist. His plays, such as Dirty Hands, No Exit, and The Flies, continue to echo the existentialist credo, "To be is to do." In 1964, Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, an honor he famously declined, objecting to an establishment's role in defining a writer's success. Throughout his life, Sartre was a constant presence in Parisian life, his every move chronicled by the media until his death from a lung ailment on April 15, 1980.

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