Introduction to Existentialism
Existentialist thought emerged in response to the constraints imposed on human beings—constraints that gradually stripped individuals of the innate freedom accompanying them since birth. Confronted with dominant intellectual doctrines and the complex experiences of life, individuals found themselves engaged in a continuous struggle to affirm their independence. They navigated the tensions between past and present, while attempting to reconcile spiritual, intellectual, and religious perspectives with the shifting realities of their environment, climate, and the unpredictable challenges surrounding them.
Within this landscape, new questions and ideas began to surface—questions seeking clarity about the nature of existence, the authenticity of perceived realities, and the distinction between what is genuinely real and what merely participates in the appearance of reality. This existential tension ultimately shaped the individual’s awareness of the limitations placed upon their freedom, compelling them to confront responsibility within a confined sphere shaped by restrictive and inherited ideas
