Existentialism Explained: A Detailed Humanistic Reflection on Ten Videos
Existentialism is often misunderstood as a dark, pessimistic, or purely atheistic philosophy. However, a close and careful engagement with the ten videos in this activity reveals existentialism as a deeply human philosophical movement one that emerges from crisis, uncertainty, and the collapse of traditional meaning systems, yet refuses passive despair. Instead, it insists on responsibility, authenticity, and conscious living.
Video 1: What Is Existentialism?
This video establishes the foundation of existentialist thought by emphasizing that philosophy must begin with the individual subject, not abstract systems. Existentialism is presented through a triangular model consisting of individuality, freedom, and passion. These three elements together define the existential condition.
What is crucial here is the insistence that human beings cannot be understood through general rules or universal definitions alone. Each individual must confront life personally. The video also introduces the idea that existentialism includes both theistic and atheistic thinkers. Even in the case of religious existentialists such as Søren Kierkegaard, God is not accepted as a ready-made solution. Faith becomes meaningful only after an individual has experienced despair, doubt, and existential anxiety.
This reframes belief in God as a choice, not an inheritance. The video thus makes clear that existentialism is not antiGod; it is anti-unquestioned belief.
Video 2: Existence Precedes Essence
This video focuses primarily on Jean-Paul Sartre and his revolutionary claim that existence precedes essence. Traditionally, philosophy held that everything has a predetermined purpose or essence. Sartre rejects this idea for human beings.
According to existentialism, humans are born without a fixed nature or destiny. We exist first, and only later define ourselves through actions and choices. This leads to Sartre’s idea that humans are “condemned to be free.” Freedom here is not celebratory it is burdensome. Without God or universal moral laws, we cannot blame anyone else for our decisions.
The emotional consequence of this freedom is anguish, which arises when we recognize that our choices define not only ourselves but also imply values for humanity at large.
Video 3: Albert Camus – The Myth of Sisyphus
This video explains Albert Camus’s concept of the absurd, which arises from the clash between humanity’s search for meaning and the silent, indifferent universe.
Camus identifies two common escapes from the absurd: physical suicide and philosophical suicide. Philosophical suicide occurs when individuals adopt religious or metaphysical beliefs to artificially resolve the tension of absurdity. Camus strongly criticizes this move, arguing that it denies reality rather than confronting it.
Instead, Camus proposes rebellion a continuous, conscious refusal to surrender. Meaning is not discovered or guaranteed; it is lived through resistance. The dignity of human life lies in remaining aware of the absurd while still choosing to live.
Video 4: Dadaism, Existentialism, and Nihilism
This video situates existentialism historically by connecting it to Dadaism, an artistic movement that emerged during World War I. Dadaism rejected logic, tradition, and aesthetic norms as a protest against the civilization that produced war.
Although often mistaken for nihilism, Dadaism is shown here as a clearing force, not a final destination. By destroying false values, it created space for new forms of meaning. This parallels existentialism’s later response to World War II.
The video emphasizes that absurdity can function as a tool of resistance, not a sign of despair. Meaninglessness becomes a starting point rather than an endpoint.
Video 5: Existentialism – A Gloomy Philosophy?
This video directly challenges the stereotype of existentialism as pessimistic. While existentialist thinkers openly discuss despair, anxiety, and death, they do so to address real human suffering not to glorify hopelessness.
The video stresses that existentialism demands personal responsibility. Meaning cannot be handed down by institutions, traditions, or authorities. Individuals must judge values for themselves and live with the consequences of their choices.
Importantly, the video distinguishes existentialism from narcissism. Individuality does not mean selfishness; it means refusing to dissolve into the crowd or live unreflectively.
Video 6: Existentialism and Nihilism
This video clarifies a crucial distinction: existentialism is not nihilism. Nihilism claims that life has no meaning and often leads to passive resignation. Existentialism, by contrast, treats meaninglessness as a challenge.
For Kierkegaard, nihilism represents the loss of individuality. For Friedrich Nietzsche, it is the collapse of traditional values. Both thinkers respond by insisting that meaning must be actively created.
The video contrasts nihilistic passivity with Camus’s idea of rebellion, reinforcing existentialism as an active ethical stance rather than a defeatist one.
Video 7: Introduction to Existentialism
This video provides a comprehensive overview of existentialism as a movement, not a system. It emerged in response to historical crises, especially war, alienation, and the collapse of religious certainty.
Existentialism rejects all-encompassing systems religious, scientific, or philosophical that claim to explain life fully. Such systems, existentialists argue, remove the burden of personal meaning-making and therefore weaken human responsibility.
The video reinforces Sartre’s idea that humans must sculpt their own essence through lived choices.
Video 8: Explain Like I’m Five – Nietzsche
Using a simplified classroom setting, this video explains Nietzsche’s rejection of universal morality. Rules, the video suggests, are often socially constructed rather than naturally given.
The concept of the Übermensch is presented not as domination, but as value creation. However, the video also highlights the dangers of freedom by showing how unrestrained individual action can create conflict.
This illustrates a key existential tension: freedom is real, but it is never without consequences.
Video 9: Why I Like Existentialism
This video presents existentialism as a practical philosophy for everyday life. It rejects comforting illusions and emphasizes agency, authenticity, and responsibility.
The speaker argues that existentialism opposes victimhood. While circumstances may be uncontrollable, individuals remain responsible for how they respond. Meaning is created through commitment, action, and honesty.
This perspective presents existentialism as psychologically empowering rather than bleak.
Video 10: Crash Course Philosophy – Existentialism
The final video offers a structured explanation of existentialism, contrasting it with essentialism. It revisits the absurd, radical freedom, and Sartre’s concept of bad faith the tendency to deny freedom by hiding behind roles or authorities.
Authenticity, according to this video, requires accepting full responsibility for one’s life without appealing to external guarantees. Meaning exists only because humans choose to give it meaning.
My Favorite Video and Why
My favorite video was Video 1: What Is Existentialism? because of the way it addressed the question of God without reducing existentialism to atheism or blind faith.
What impressed me most was the idea that belief in God does not automatically disqualify someone from being an existentialist. The video clarified that existentialism is not primarily about whether God exists or not, but about how an individual arrives at belief or disbelief. In this sense, God becomes meaningful only after one has thought as an individual and confronted despair, anxiety, or the absurdity of life.
This perspective felt deeply human to me. Instead of accepting God as a ready-made answer imposed by society, tradition, or fear, the video suggested that faith—if it exists at all—must come after questioning, not before it. This made me realize that existentialism does not reject God outright; it rejects unexamined belief.
I appreciated this approach because it avoids two extremes: blind religiosity on one side and shallow atheism on the other. The video showed that existentialist thinkers like Kierkegaard believed that God could only be meaningful when chosen consciously by an individual who has fully faced the uncertainty and pain of existence.
This idea resonated with me because it places responsibility back on the individual. Whether one believes in God or not, the burden of thinking, choosing, and living authentically cannot be outsourced. In that sense, the video presented existentialism as a philosophy of intellectual honesty, not ideological rigidity.
My Learning Outcomes
This activity significantly transformed my understanding of existentialism.
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My comprehension has clearly improved: I now see existentialism as a response to nihilism rather than its extension.
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I feel more confident discussing and writing about existentialist thinkers because their differences and connections are clearer.
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Concepts such as absurdity, freedom, authenticity, and bad faith previously confusing now feel conceptually grounded.
Most importantly, I learned that existentialism is not about discovering meaning already waiting for us; it is about accepting the burden of creating meaning.
Five Thought-Provoking Questions
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If life does not come with a fixed meaning, how do ordinary people find the strength to keep living during moments of despair or loss?
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When everything feels absurd and uncertain, is choosing to continue living itself a form of quiet rebellion?
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Can belief in God be a genuine personal choice born out of reflection, or does it often function as an escape from existential anxiety?
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How can a person live authentically in a society that constantly pressures them to conform to roles, expectations, and trends?
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If meaning must be created individually, what responsibilities do we still owe to others who are struggling to find meaning in their own lives?
Additional Feedback
This activity turned existentialism from a philosophical topic into a personal intellectual challenge. Rather than offering comfort, existentialism demands honesty, courage, and responsibility. Engaging with these videos helped me see existentialism not as a gloomy doctrine, but as a serious attempt to think truthfully about what it means to be human.
References-
Barad, Dilip. “Existentialism: Video Resources.” Dilip Barad | Teacher Blog, 19 Sept. 2016, blog.dilipbarad.com/2016/09/existentialism-video-resources.html.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Constance Garnett, Project Gutenberg, 28 Mar. 2006, www.gutenberg.org/files/2554/2554-h/2554-h.htm.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from the Underground. Translated by Constance Garnett, Project Gutenberg, 1 July 1996, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/600. Project Gutenberg eBook #600.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Translated by Constance Garnett, Project Gutenberg, 12 Feb. 2009, www.gutenberg.org/files/28054/old/28054-pdf.pdf. Project Gutenberg eBook #28054.
Gallagher, Shaun, et al. “Existentialism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 6 January 2023, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/. Accessed 23 January 2026.
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