- 1
Existentialism is a family of modern philosophies (Sartre is the name students meet most) that puts the person, not a ready-made script, at the centre. The tidy school line is: the world has no meaning, and you are responsible for your own acts and experiences.
Existentialismexistentialism（存在主義） is a family of modern philosophies是一群現代哲學 (Sartre is the name students meet most)（學生最常接觸到的名字是沙特） that puts the person, not a ready-made script, at the centre把「人」而不是現成的劇本放在中心. The tidy school line簡化的教科書說法是 is: the world has no meaning世界沒有意義, and而且 you are responsible for your own acts and experiences你要為自己的行為和經歷負責.
Though actually, that is a little too neat. Many of these say meaning is not handed to you in advance by God or by a fixed “human nature.” You exist first; then, by choosing, you make who you are — and you cannot pass that weight to someone else.
Though actually不過事實上, that is a little too neat這說法有點太乾淨俐落了. Many of these thinkers這些思想家中有許多人 say meaning is not handed to you in advance說意義不是事先就交到你手上的 by God or by a fixed "human nature."不管是上帝給的還是固定的「人性」給的. You你 exist first先存在; then, by choosing然後透過選擇, you make who you are你才塑造出你是誰 — and而且 you cannot pass that weight to someone else你沒辦法把這個重量轉嫁給別人.
Some write as if you must create meaning; others, like Camus, are closer to living with the absurd than to wearing the school label.
Some有些人 write as if you must create meaning寫得好像你一定要創造意義; others, like Camus其他人，像卡繆, are closer to living with the absurd比較接近與荒謬共存 than to wearing the school label而不是掛上這個學派的標籤.
It is a 20th-century classroom word, serious and European in flavour, not a mood and not the same as “nothing matters, so why try.” That last idea is closer to nihilism, and existentialism is often fighting it: if nothing is written for you, your choices matter more, not less.
It它 is a 20th-century classroom word是一個二十世紀課堂上的詞, serious and European in flavour帶著嚴肅、歐洲式的味道, not a mood不是一種情緒 and而且 not the same as "nothing matters, so why try."跟「反正什麼都不重要，何必努力」不是同一回事. That last idea最後這個想法 is closer to nihilism比較接近虛無主義, and而 existentialism存在主義 is often fighting it常常是在對抗它: if nothing is written for you如果沒有什麼是為你寫好的, your choices你的選擇 matter more, not less反而更重要，而不是更不重要.
組成existential + -ism (a belief or system of thought). Built on the same Late Latin line as existential: existentia (“existence”) from existō / exsistō (“to exist”).
同家族的字
- existentialthe adjective — relating to existence, or to this philosophy
- existentialista person who holds the view, or work written in that spirit
- existthe simple verb underneath the whole family
- existencethe noun — the fact of being
原始詞典資料3 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
existentialismnoun/ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃəlɪz(ə)m/
- 1
human-sciencesphilosophysciencesA 20th-century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices; also (generally), a philosophy which emphasizes existence over essence.
- The heyday of existentialism occurred in the mid-twentieth century.
- This [dialectal] theology takes sides against idealism and for ‘existentialism’, in other words, for a philosophy which makes being its starting-point. But in the idealists there are already highly significant elements of existentialism, as [Eduard] Spranger convincingly urges.
- 2
human-sciencesphilosophysciencesThe philosophical views of a particular thinker associated with the existentialist movement.
- Sartre’s existentialism is atheistic, but the existentialism of Marcel is distinctly Christian.
- In the "existentialisms" of [Martin] Heidegger, [Karl] Jaspers, [Jean-Paul] Sartre, [Gabriel] Marcel, etc., no less than in the "dialectal" or "crisis" theology of Karl Barth and his associates, [Søren] Kirkegaard's thought lives on as a challenge to the twentieth century.
- 3
historicalhuman-sciencesphilosophysciencesSynonym of structuralism (“a school of thought that focuses on exploring the individual elements of consciousness, how they are organized into more complex experiences, and how these mental phenomena correlate with physical events”).
- I sought to 'psychologise' [Franz] Brentano's act as being, existentially, the temporal factor intrinsic to psychological subject-matter. […] My attempt sprang, indeed, from a rather desperate desire somehow to bring intentionalism and existentialism together at close quarters, and to transcend the mere calling of names.
- [T]here was the argument of existentialism that the qualities of experience, or of the contents of gnomic mind, rather than acts constitute the subject matter of psychology.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。