Talk:Existentialism

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Contents 1 This needs a fix up 2 Sexist Language? 3 Common threads POV 4 Vandalism? 5 readability to laypersons 6 Post Modern vs. Existentialism and rock and roll 7 explanation of philosophy needs work 8 Philosophical movement? 9 Incomprehensible introduction 10 "Existentialism often is associated with anxiety, dread, awareness of death, and freedom." 11 this entry should be scrapped 12 What needs to be done (Feb 2007) 13 Curious... 14 Existentialists 14.1 Everything, Everything! 14.2 Belmondo school of existentialism 14.3 Max Stirner 14.4 List of existentialist authors 14.5 Living Existentialists 14.6 Emile Cioran 14.7 Ionesco 14.8 and Kerouac, and Lit in general 14.9 Dostoevsky 15 In Popular Culture 15.1 Hamlet 15.2 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 15.3 R.D. Laing? 15.4 Popular Culture 15.5 Joseph Conrad 15.6 Non-notable "pop-culture" 15.7 "Existentialism in popular culture" 15.8 Existential Crisis 16 Addition to Cinema Section.

[edit] This needs a fix up

I don't mean to be rude but some of this is just wrong. It is not uncommon for Existentialism mind you as so few people practice the philosophy (as it is a form of philosophy that a person practices rather than just studies) that it is often easy to missunderstand if you just read it. A bit like Buddhism I suppose. I will try to fix up the Existential pages in the next few months. If there is anyone else who has read Being and Nothingness, the Second Sex or Keirkergaard it would welcome their help. I would prefer that experts or at least people who have considerate knowledge write this page as it is confused. We are missing major concepts:

1. Negatites - ontological existentialism
2. Anguish before oneself v fear of being in the world
3. Despair as a failed combination of finitude and infinitude (as it is the chapter on Existential despair is not really correct)
4. Awareness of bad faith and the despair which follows - think Jude Law in I heart huckabees
5. The look and its affect on consciousness
6. (indifference desire hate) Sadism and (love language) Masochism
7. Being doing and having sex is really fun
8. Recollection is not memory: In vito veritas - Keirkergaard
9. The eternal
10. The non-rational the absurd
11. belief as a counter-reflective response to fealings
12. the divine in subjective - subjective exchange (i.e Tillich)
13. The Facticity
14. Being is, Being is in-itself, Nothingness haunts being, nothingness is coiled in being like a worm

Almost everything stated is at best, an under-grad view of existentialism. People, please cross-reference your material before posting it. If information contain is your own subjective view, state this. I will chase up some of the people here to finalise this page.

I just wanted to explain what I've been doing over the past couple days. I've tried making some edits that attempt to improve the clarity and readability of certain sections. I have limited knowledge of existentialism so I haven't focused much on accuracy. I'm hoping I made some sections easier to follow but there's obviously a lot more to do. Aldrichio 20:13, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

The statement that existentialists do not agree on what it is, or that it exists, should be in the introduction. It is a key fact about the topic. It is the backbone of existentialism, because the thread that ties existentialists together are the questions they all ask, not their answers or the theories found. 209.177.21.6 23:03, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sexist Language?

At a few points in the article the writing presupposes a male subjectivity, I tried to correct a few by inserting he/she, though this seems bulky and awkward. I'm not a regular contributor so I figured I would just point this out and ask folks to go about figuring out the best way to address this. All philosophical texts should assume a neutral, non-gender specific position. While it might have been proper to degrade women in the 18th century by excluding them from philosophy, surely we've come to a point to recognize that women are equally human and capable of digesting complex theories and treatisies of philosophy. ~Danielle Askini

As soon as you can find us a gender-neutral singular pronoun, we'll use it. In the meantime, stfu/diaf. You just ruined wikipedia for me forever. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.165.24.189 (talk) 10:12, 6 February 2007 (UTC).

              that was so uncalled for.71.232.108.228 06:34, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

The pronoun "he" is a generic third person singular pronoun; it does not necessarily refer to a male. BrainRotMenacer 03:12, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I do not think it matters whether a grammar book says that 'he' 'does not necessarily refer to a male', what matters is that 'he' is masculine in the context of everyday usage. 'He' means male, however many grammatical hairs one is splitting. By the same logic why not suggest that 'she' 'does not necessarily refer to a woman'. Even grammarians can be sexists. Gcoultersmith 18:53, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

exactly. i agree 100%.71.232.108.228 06:18, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I have never heard that.--Loodog 03:44, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

He: "The third person singular pronoun for a person of male gender, or, in traditional English grammar, a person of unknown gender." SilentC 04:03, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

agreed.--Loodog 06:29, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Using he as the singular third person pronoun for a person of an unknown gender has been under attack for a long time, and it is better to use 'he/she' or 'they' to avoid being offensive. Kingofpawns 02:07, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Well why don't you have a go at rewriting the 'offensive' bits using gender neutral language. No point waiting for someone else to do it if you don't like the way it's written. Don't forget 'man'. Some people are even offended by 'human'. What about God. Is He a He, or a He/She or what? Enjoy! SilentC 02:26, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Remember though: "They" is a third person plural, though incorrectly used in the singular (e.g. "Everyone does their own work.")--Loodog 03:38, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh dear, the singular "they" has been around for so long, it even appears in the Bible. The only reason we haven't all arrived at this wonderful compromise is because of aging English teachers who are unwilling to teach their children that sometimes, it's all right to split an infinitive or end your sentence with a preposition. This is just another example of a rule that was NEVER in effect, and is in effect even less so now. 130.184.151.62 15:58, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

I'd rather be wrong about the plurality than about the gender. I use "they" as a gender-neutral pronoun when either gender or plurality is unknown or ambiguous. I'd prefer to use "E" as the replacement for he/she. But I've been waiting for "English" to catch up with SMS'ers using "U" for "you". Eventually we'll get there. Meanwhile, they say it's worth waiting. DocRuby 00:52, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Whether or not it is what you would rather or not is irrelevent. "They" is not a solution for pronoun ambiguity. He/She, his/her, etc. are the current reccommened replacements, even if they are awkward. "One" can also be used, in some situations. ColinM 21:41, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

I propose the Jamaican English "im". It is sort of gender neutral. How about "it"? As in "A person can do as it pleases"? "It" is both gender neutral and has the correct pluraility. Jatreloar 12:42, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

One/one's/oneself seems good?

Why don't you all try and be mature enough to not take offense at a pronoun. The collective insecurity of women who feel that by not being explicitly recognized with a he/she or his/her does more to harm their credibility than the conventional use of a centuries old language. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.150.236.29 (talk) 19:04, 7 February 2007 (UTC).

I think it is much better that man (as in huMANkind) bend to the specific uses of language rather than subjectively assign stigma based on emotion. He is a gender neutral pronoun, period. If you think differently, you have personally attached a secondary meaning and emotional trigger to the word. And why would a we use a Jamaican word for an article written in English? Let us also be clear, that using 'he' is not sexist, unless the sentence is 'She cannot do quality work like he can, because she is not a he.'--Ikyork 22:07, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

1 : that male one who is neither speaker nor hearer <he is my father> -- compare HIM, HIS, IT, SHE, THEY

2 -- used in a generic sense or when the sex of the person is unspecified <he that hath ears to hear, let him hear -- Matthew 11:15 (Authorized Version)> <one should do the best he can>

from [1].

To be honest, I see that officially he can be gender neutral . But two problems: 1)One of the above usages is explicitly male. 2)Modern colloquial usage has changed the average person's interpretation of "he". But there's not really a good alternative...--Loodog 03:07, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

A good majority^{[dubious — see talk page]} of people see the word "he" as gender neutral when used ambiguously. Just because "He" can also refer to a specific male doesn't mean that it is a word for males. The words like "she" single out a female, and emphasise the it is a female. Have you ever noticed that "she" is a much stronger a word then "he"? It is because "he" is more ambiguous. Freeflux 03:56, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

I'd suggest that this debate be taken somewhere more general (in fact I have no doubt it has already been subject to pages and pages of discussion elsewhere in Wikipedia). It's not really a problem specific to this article but applies to Wikipedia as a whole. Try here for a start: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_gender-neutral_pronouns. SilentC 04:00, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

For God's sake this is rediculous. If you take offence by this sort of thing you really should get out more.

wow, such undying faith in what dictionaries say. the dictionary proclaims 'he' as gender-neutral so that's it huh? it ends there? no contention or questioning at all? if 'she' was being used instead of 'he' you all would have a problem with it, guaranteed. it is not that hard to use the words 'someone' or 'they', etc.71.232.108.228 06:18, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

If 'she' was well established as gender-neutral instead then i would be quite content, however it is not. It is the content of the article that is of concern to me and if I can extract the information easily enough without confusion over what is aimed at what sex then i have no problem. I'm sure everyone here recognized that 'he' in this case was intended to be gender-neutral due to the context and so i don't think there should be this problem. (UTC)

Truthfully, it is listed in the dictionary and traditionally has been used to represent both genders in ambiguity. Of course, traditionally women have been a subservient gender. This said, I still don't see why people are offended by a tendency to use he or him instead of the ever elusive gender neutral pronoun. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 163.153.142.100 (talk) 17:15, 15 March 2007 (UTC).

Danielle Your comment is hardly existentialist - do you really think that when a "person" reads the word "he" that women are explicitly excluded from the thought unless specifically led by the author to think so? Your point is totally subjective and you should keep it so. I choose not to agree with your twisted misinterpretation of meaning. Cginusa 05:12, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Common threads POV

The "common threads" section flatly states that there is no predefined "human nature" - that might be an element of existentialism, but I doubt it is true. In any case, there should be some reference to who makes this claim, and the section re-worded to take this into account. -- Beland 22:17, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

That is one of the fundamental themes of existentialism. Usually I'm all for references, but this is going a little far. -Smahoney 16:15, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Smahoney: it's like asking for references for a statement saying that a common belief amongst Christians is a belief in Jesus Christ as savior, i.e. defining one’s personal "existence" is as key to Existentialism as "Christ" is to Christians. mwazzap 11:25, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism?

I don't know what can be done about it, but it would apear someone has repeatedly attempted to change the page. I don't know if it's the editors whom he is having the argument with, but the result is a rather ugly page when you have someone adding their little caps-lock cries in the text: "STOP ERASING WHAT I'M WRITING", "THE FOLLOWING IS ALL LIES". I don't really know the system for editing on wikipedia well enough to say, but could the editors just pick one line and go with it, and make it a trustworthy article containing fact, and non-biased comentary on popular opinion! This stuff is what degrades Wikipedia!!

[edit] readability to laypersons

I maintain that this article should have high readability to one not well-versed in philosophy. Remember that the same phrase which embodies an idea and has predefined meaning for one who's been studying this can mean nothing to one not knowing the ideas a priori. I believe the following concepts need more explanation, as in the English language, they don't have sufficient a priori meaning to throw in an article:

• Does not treat the individual as a concept

• existence precedes essence

• That is, it argues against definitions of human beings either as primarily rational, knowing beings who relate to reality primarily as an object of knowledge, or for whom action can or ought to be regulated by rational principles, or as beings who can be defined in terms of their behavior as it looks to or is studied by others.

--Loodog 03:29, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Im a lay person and this third paragraph I had to read 3 times before it sunk in, Im degree educated however not in philosophy.[SJ.5-Oct-06]

I second this concern, I am a pretty sharp student and this article is not accessible at all to a layman. Try not to get wrapped up in every specialized term you know when editing! --209.193.46.114 05:00, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Post Modern vs. Existentialism and rock and roll

Postmodern film techniques can be used to tell an existential story because postmodernism itself is primarily a "technical" movement. From digital sampling to collage to the self-referencial dialogue of performance artists and rap artists, only technique and certain dismissals can be made with postmodernism. Existenialism can be put to use by capitalist fundamentalists and social darwinists to hold "the other" at bay for the purposes of self-enrichment and engrandizment in a mertiocracy. As for music there actually are some relivent artists as I respectfully disagree with the poster below. Kraftwerk as the first true "electronic" band searches gracefully and intensly for authentic humanity in an impersonal and mechanical society. This was felt so keenly that huge numbers of modern musicians will cite them. They helped allow for Rap music and "electronica" music which are more post-modern. Rap's constant self-reference and sampling and "electronica's" disregard for authentic objective reality and disinterest in the acknowledgment of death make them postmodern forms. Kraftwerk could be a parcial contributer to existneialism in music. Joy Division's aknowledgement of death added to Kraftwerk's search for authenticity in an impersonal and mechinal world synthesizes exitential concepts futhur. Both groups are acknowldged by scores of musicians and critics as serious influences on contemporay music unlike the artists mentioned below.

Justindr660@hotmail.com 04:40, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm with you. Back in the day this article had a list of like fifty movies with 'existential' themes, and someone rightfully removed most of them. It looks like this kind of thing is creeping back. Many movies, for example, feature characters who struggle to figure out who they are and what the meaning of life is. This doesn't make the movies 'existential.' Two or three movie references should suffice, so I deleted the ones that didn't say the movie was centered around existentialism. --68.202.66.211 02:46, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] explanation of philosophy needs work

The explanation of the philosophy needs work, its vague and unclear. As someone who is majoring in the subject, at a well respected university, I think the explanation requires expert attention. The entry in the Stanford encyclopedia, though contains a lot of the information needed to provide suitable infomation

[edit] Philosophical movement?

Nov. 15, 2006

In my philosophy class we debated whether or not existentialism was actually a philosohpical movement or just more of a way of life. We concluded by saying that existentialism was more of a way of life instead of a philosophical movement. SABAGBY 22:30, 15 November 2006 (UTC) Sarah

[edit] Incomprehensible introduction

The opening paragraphs quite simply incomprehensible to anybody who hasn't majored in philosophy/existentialism. In other words, I think it needs to be rewritten to a more simpler form so that a complete idiot (me) can understand it. TommyStardust 16:56, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

I've tried to do just that, apparently in vain. Insofar as I understand existentialism, it's about man being born into a world with his life and existence having no preset meaning. He sort of stumbles around and through life creating a meaning for his life and existence. I believe there is also an axiom in there about independence and personalization of that meaning, i.e. no one can tell you your life's meaning just as much as you can never tell it to anyone else. I invite you to change the opening paragraph if you have a more accessible way to say all this.--Loodog 22:38, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

" Insofar as I understand existentialism, it's about man being born into a world with his life and existence having no preset meaning. He sort of stumbles around and through life creating a meaning for his life and existence. I believe there is also an axiom in there about independence and personalization of that meaning, i.e. no one can tell you your life's meaning just as much as you can never tell it to anyone else. " Neat interpretation Loodog, could expand on this for a layman's definition for the intro paragraph. Gronkmeister 16:52, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

4/12/2006 - I have tried a new intro paragraph, hopefully clearer. --Awenty 20:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Existentialism often is associated with anxiety, dread, awareness of death, and freedom."

Is this vandalism or what? How can a philosophical thought be associated with such states of mind? I have serious doubts about this statement.

---

I'm not sure it is vandalism at all - anxiety, dread, awareness of death are all found when we're aware of what its like to be a totally free agent in the world - Heidegger uses the term 'forlorness' instead of anxiety but there is some agreement on these points. --Awenty 13:05, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] this entry should be scrapped

Frankly, I was disturbed to read about existentialism on wikipedia. It reads like something a child might have written. Just from reading the first paragraph or two one can draw the conclusion that the author or authors know very little about the subject, and have a rather low opinion of it. I"m sure knowledgable people have contributed valuable information to this subject, but it appears that very little to none of this remains.124.54.166.37 13:45, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

You're right. The quality of Wikipedia's philosophy articles is an ongoing problem, but this is one of the worst I've seen. -- WikiPedant 13:59, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I took a run at rewriting the first 2 paragraphs, which contained some pretty outrageous material (some of it cute vandalism, I suspect). -- WikiPedant 20:58, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What needs to be done (Feb 2007)

I have tried to give the article a more coherent structure so as to make it more readable. As it stands, the article is of varying quality. While the Historical and Criticism sections are good, it lacks a proper introduction, the major themes section is fragmented and fails to distinguish between essential elements of existentialism and those particular to Sartre, and the Existentialism since 1970 section is poorly written, probably original research and refers disproportionally to "Michael Szymczyk". Any other suggestions for improvement? Skomorokh 22:16, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Curious...

I actually suffered from angst a while back but the cause was the complete opposite. I found the idea of determinism disturbing and tried positively reenforce my free will. Of course, I now believe that I'm a free agent and now I feel alright. This got me thinking: Does existentialism actually apply to human experience? The fact that it rejects empiricism doesn't help either.--213.202.183.62 14:41, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Existentialists

[edit] Everything, Everything!

I think we've mentioned every affected modern man/concept/thing on this discussion. But Nietzsche? Nietzsche?! Bah! I spit on your grave. The detatched moral sentiment in here is overwhelmingly underwhelming. 24.94.65.69 16:59, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

I think Nietzsche would've said, "Maggots -- Decadent beings like to spit on the graves of great men. Their overwhelming resentment makes it hard for them to resist infesting works of great genius." Moonwalkerwiz 01:18, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Belmondo school of existentialism

I removed the following sentence from the section Dostoevsky, Kafka, and the literary existentialists:

"The Belmondo school of existentialism, inspired by Genet, the criminal world, and French society's underclasses are seen now as a detective fiction sub-genre."

Frankly, I have no idea what this sentence is about, and how it is relevant here. At least there should be an explanation what the Belmondo school of existentialism is.

[edit] Max Stirner

I think Max Stirner should have a mention for being the precursor of Nietzsche. There are many existential themes in his work and some evidence that Nietzsche read and was influenced by his work, which caused a crisis in Nietzsche's life. See the 'Max Stirner' wiki article for more details, which also provides a link to information on the Nietzsche crisis.

Max Stirner should be mentionned as an influence on existentialism, but we cannot consider him an influence on Nietzsche. No one is certain whether Nietzsche ever read Max Stirner or, for that matter, Kierkegaard. Accordingly, we have no proof that Nietzsche ever owned books by Stirner, nor has he ever quoted or spoke of him: therefore writing him in as an influence on Nietzsche is speculative at best.

[edit] List of existentialist authors

Maybe there should be a section or new page listing existentialists? 216.15.107.146 19:55, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Living Existentialists

We are impressed that existentialism has such a deep and rich history. But there must be some original existential thinkers still alive. I make bold to suggest myself: James Leonard Park. My website is called "An Existential Philosopher's Museum": http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/ I do not know of any other existential philosophers still alive and writing. But I would be very pleased to discover that there are some. If so, they should be listed somewhere in this article on existentialism. One problem will be deciding just who is a real existentialist. I suggest letting the readers decide for themselves. 75.72.159.65 14:02, 26 November 2006 (UTC)James Park, November 26, 2006

[edit] Emile Cioran

Is it possible Cioran is added into this as a possible satirist of existentialism in some forms? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 58.162.122.175 (talk) 11:31, 24 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Ionesco

Listen: Ionesco is NOT an existentialist. His plays may have demonstrated existentialist themes but if I looked really hard I could say that about just about anything. Ionesco criticized existentialism, hated philosophy in general, sided specifically with the Pataphysicians, and in general with the Surrealists. I don't appreciate the mischaracterization of his philosophies. I tried to change it to something MUCH more accurate but it was changed back. Please, if you have only a scanty understanding of Ionesco don't make him seem like something he's not! If I'm wrong, please prove me wrong.

134.224.220.1 19:24, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] and Kerouac, and Lit in general

Not to repeat too much things said in previous discussions, but this is a rediculous aspect of this page: How do you qualify a writer as an existentialist? To qualify Jack Kerouac as an existentialist just seems silly. Is it necessary or enlightening? Does it tell us anything interesting or new about Kerouac or existentialism? Look, I love Kerouac, and I'm happy abt his in more pages than he really needs to be in. But good sense tells me it's rediculous to have him here.

I propose this useful way of determining if a writer can be called an existentialist: If a writer is a SELF-IDENTIFIED or TRADITIONALLY IDENTIFIED existentialist it's valid to label them so. Kafka, for example, is not a self-identified existentialist, but to label him one (as he's been traditionally labelled) certainly tells us something about Kafka and tells us something about existentialism. Ionesco, as I said in my previous post, was not a self-identified existentialist. The Absurdists were associated by Martin Esslin with existentialism though he never actually called them existentialists. But you should give the full picture: saying Ionesco employs existentialst themes leaves open the misinterpetation that he believed in -- or even liked -- existentialism. To frame it as I've framed it gives a much more accurate picture. For Kerouac, I doubt there's a valid argument for his inclusion on this page. Yes he says in "About the Beat Generation": "The same thing was almost going on in the postwar France of Satre [sic] and Genet" but he mentions the Lost Generation in that same sentence. He's no more an existentialst than he is a member of the Lost Generation.

134.224.220.1 19:24, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dostoevsky

200.184.114.204 added a line to the section discussing Dostoevsky that either needs to be referenced, or is untrue.

The original statement reads: Throughout Crime and Punishment we see the protagonist, Raskolnikov, and his character develop away from existential ideas and beliefs in favor of more traditionally Christian ones.

200.184.114.204 added a comma to add: , showing that Dostoevsky was still a christian and that exististentialism was in its early days.

The statement was revised by Matthew Liberal as , showing that Dostoevsky was still very much a Christian thinker.

Edit History

I added a citation tag, but I don't think this can be cited, hopefully I am wrong here, but this claim seems a bit outside of Dostoevsky's ideas. Once sited, this information should be arranged so that it shows Dostoevsky commenting on Christian ideals, rather than being influenced by christianity.

Just wondering if a change should be made, Gronkmeister 16:16, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] In Popular Culture

[edit] Hamlet

given quotes like 'nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so' and to be ro not to be' is there an argument that Hamlet/shakespeare could be included in any discussion on existentialism? also does any of existentialism come up with a solution to existence?

[edit] The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Existentialism in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya? Where?

[edit] R.D. Laing?

I think that this entry is hardly exhaustive without even a mention of English writer/psychologist R.D. Laing; in particular, his book "The Politics of Experience" (1967).

His challanges of morality, mental illness and percieved reality are right at home in this entry.

[edit] Popular Culture

Naruto is existential?

[edit] Joseph Conrad

should Joseph Conrad be mentioned? Heart of Darkness has existential undertones...

[edit] Non-notable "pop-culture"

I removed some of the pop-culture references, deeming the ones about song names not worth listing. They seem to have reappeared. There are countless songs, pieces of art, and other media that deal with existentialism. I say just put a few movies and books and leave it at that, skipping all the unnecessary stuff that's put in merely because the contributor likes it.

So, I vote to get rid of:

• During the witty introduction sequence...
• The band the Exies is named after the concept.
• THOM PAIN (based on nothing) by Will Eno.
• The band Straylight Run was made famous almost overnight by their popular single Existentialism on Prom Night, a song that does in fact deal with the basic existential issues common to the teenage experience.

and possibly combine these:

• The animes, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Big O and Naruto contain existential themes.
• The 2006 anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya expounds on many of the existential themes of meaning which Evangelion originally put forward.

Anyone? Bueller?

--Кровиссер^Talk 19:32, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Agree. This section should be cleaned up. darkskyz 15:00, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Existentialism in popular culture"

I think "Existentialism in popular culture" should be moved into a separate article to help stay on topic. Utilitarianism and Logical Positivism stay on topic; Existentialism should as well.--Harpakhrad11 20:57, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Existential Crisis

Somehow link to the stub of an existential crisis?

[edit] Addition to Cinema Section.

Perhaps adding the movie Life Is Beautiful to the section? I know it is becoming very popular for a brief overview in existentialism (especially in High School and College classes) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.77.209.218 (talk) 03:41, 29 March 2007 (UTC).