Existentialism

Existentialism is a twentieth century movement which involves itself with the problems and conditions that are in direct relation to man and the life that he lives. They take human being in the whole range of his existing not only as a thinking being but as an initiator of action and a centre of feeling. They think passionately as one who is involved in the actualities of existence. For this reason existentialists concentrate their attention on the problems that seem to be directly related to concrete human existence rather than on those that are abstract or speculative. Such themes as freedom, decision, human subjectivity, commitment, angst, death, choice, responsibility are central in all the existentialists as these constitute the core of personal being. Authenticity is of central concern to almost all the leading existentialists which they believe that it can be actualized in free and responsible choice. This book is a study of the notion of authenticity, set against the backdrop of existentialism. It studies the ontological notion of authenticity from the perspective of life as it is daily lived out and its several practical ramifications.