Why are we here anyway? Why am I here, at 1:00 AM, writing a paragraph about existentialism for high school students? Well, according to the existentialists, there is no reason why we’re here, but that isn’t a bad thing. If we have no inherent purpose in life, we’re free to choose whatever purpose we want!

Existentialism is a philosophical movement that began in the 1800s by Danish Dynamo Søren Kierkegaard and Hot Topic rewards-card member Friedrich Nietzsche, with contributions from Fyodor “The Hammer” Dostoevsky. These cats laid the foundation for existentialism. Existentialist texts share in common a focus on the freedom and creativity of the individual. Existentialists do not believe the universe has an inherent meaning, nor do they believe people have a fixed definition or purpose. According to existentialists, humans were thrown into the river of life without a paddle and are told “just do your best; also, good luck pal.” At least humans are free to choose whether or not they feel like swimming. No matter the reason, the human simply needs to follow whatever they believe, which is epic.

 “Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Avraham Shlonsky and Leah Goldberg” by Government Press Office (GPO) is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/. https://www.flickr.com/photos/69061470@N05/6470403371

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 “Karl Jaspers” by On Being is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/. https://www.flickr.com/photos/42773169@N00/3651965519 

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 “Friedrich Nietzsche: ‘Hoy no somos el mismo hombre de ayer y mañana volveremos a ser otro.'” by Antonio Marín Segovia is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/. https://www.flickr.com/photos/23465276@N04/19888500939 

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