Atheistic existentialism
Atheistic existentialism is a kind of existentialism which
strongly diverged from the Christian existential works
of Søren Kierkegaard and developed within the context
of an atheistic worldview.[1] The philosophies of Søren
Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche provided existen-
tialism’s theoretical foundation in the 19th century, al-
though their differing views on religion proved essen-
tial to the development of alternate types of existential-
ism. Atheistic existentialism was formally recognized
after the 1943 publication of Being and Nothingness by
Jean-Paul Sartre, and Sartre later explicitly alluded to it
in Existentialism is a Humanism in 1946.
1 Thought
Atheistic existentialism refers to the exclusion of any
transcendental, metaphysical, or religious beliefs from
philosophical existentialist thought (e.g. anguish or rebel-
lion in light of human finitude and limitations). Neverthe-
less, it shares elements with religious existentialism (e.g.
the Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard) and with meta-
physical existentialism (e.g. through phenomenology and
the works of Heidegger). Atheistic existentialism con-
fronts death anxiety without appealing to a hope of some-
how being saved by a God, and often without any ap-
peal to alternate forms of supernatural salvation such as
reincarnation. For some thinkers, existential malaise is
mostly theoretical (as it is with Sartre) while others are
quite affected by existential anguish (e.g. Camus and his
discussion of the Absurd and Nietzsche who articulated
the will to power).
2 Notable Proponents
2.1 Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre is a well-known French philosopher who
was concerned with human authenticity and individuality.
His novel Nausea is, in some ways, a manifesto of atheis-
tic existentialism. It deals with a dejected researcher (An-
toine Roquentin) in an anonymous French town, where
Roquentin becomes conscious of the fact that nature, as
well as every inanimate object, are indifferent towards
him and his tormented existence. The existential angst
experienced by the protagonist allows him to eventually
understand that meaning exists only when he creates it for
himself. Sartre once said “existence precedes essence”.
1
What he meant was that, first of all, man exists (e.g. ap-
pears on the scene) and only afterwards defines himself.
If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable,
it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will he
be something, and he himself will have made what he will
be. Thus, there is no human nature, since there is no God
to conceive it. Not only is man what he conceives himself
to be, but he is also only what he wills himself to be after
this thrust toward existence. Sartre wrote other works in
the spirit of atheistic existentialism (e.g. the short stories
in his 1939 collection The Wall).
2.2 Camus
Albert Camus writes of dualisms, between happiness and
sadness, as well as life and death. In The Myth of Sisy-
phus, such dualism becomes paradoxical, because hu-
mans greatly value their existence while at the same time
being aware of their mortality. Camus believes it is hu-
man nature to have difficulty reconciling these paradoxes,
and indeed, he believed humankind must accept what he
called “the Absurd". On the other hand, Camus is not
strictly an existential atheist because the acceptance of
“the Absurd” implies neither the existence of God nor
the nonexistence of God (compare Agnosticism).
2.3 Nietzsche
Considered one of the founding fathers of Existentialism,
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was a critic of
Christian theology.[2] Arguing that morality itself is a hu-
man construct, as opposed to the laws of nature which
are inherently morally-neutral, Nietzsche divided moral-
ity into two types: herd morality and master morality.[3]
It is this first type, herd morality, which he associates with
religion, specifically, with Christianity.[4] In his book,
The Gay Science, Nietzsche utters his famous statement,
"God is dead,” which refers to his belief that morality
can no longer be reasonably dictated by religion.[5] It is
for this reason that many associate Nietzsche’s philoso-
phy with nihilism.[6] By contrast, others claim his asser-
tion that nothing exists beyond this life merely requires us
to rethink the tenets of morality, not to throw the concept
of morality itself out the window. Indeed, they argue that
while Nietzsche believed humanity was on track toward
nihilism, he was not directly advocating it as the direction
in which we should head.[7]
2 5 EXTERNAL LINKS

3 Notes
[1] Kline, Austin. “Christian Existentialism: Existential-
ist Thoughts and Christian Beliefs.” http://atheism.about.
com/od/typesofexistentialism/a/christian.htm

[2] Wicks, Robert, “Friedrich Nietzsche”, The Stanford En-

cyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward
N. Zalta (ed.)

[3] Wildman, Wesley. “Profound Atheism: Friedrich Niet-

zsche (1844-1900),” Boston University

[4] Wildman, Wesley. “Profound Atheism: Friedrich Niet-

zsche (1844-1900),” Boston University

[5] Samual, Adrian. “Nietzsche and God (Part 1),” Richmond

Journal of Philosophy (Spring 2007 Edition)

[6] Pratt, Alan. “Nihilism,” The Internet Encyclopedia of

Philosophy

[7] Michels, Steven. “Nietzsche, Nihilism, and the Virtue of

Nature”, Dogma: Revue de Philosophie et de Sciences
Humaines (Oct. 2004)

4 See also
• Absurdism
• Antitheism

• Christian existentialism
• Existence precedes essence

• Existentialist anarchism
• Existential nihilism

• Jewish existentialism
• Laïcité

• Meaning (existential)

5 External links
• Enc. Britannica, art. “Atheistic Existentialism”
• About Atheistic Existentialism

• Atheistic existentialism
• The absurd in atheistic existentialism
 3

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