Absurd Contrary to reason or beyond the limits of rational thought; paradoxical, nonsensical, or meaningless

absurd Contrary to reason or beyond the limits of rational thought; paradoxical, nonsensical, or Meaningless. According to existentialists, absurdity is an inescapable consequence of any sensitive effort to live in the face of an indifferent reality. The all-too-human inclination to yearn most passionately for those things which we can never possess, for example, is absurd in this sense. Absurdity for Camus = Meaninglessness


alienation Extreme separation from one's own nature, from the products of one's labor, or from social reality, which often results in an indifference or outright aversion toward some aspect of life that might otherwise be attractive and significant. Detachment, Isolation, Separation, etc.


analogy Similarity in several respects between discrete cases; Comparison. Analogies are offered to provide insights, and can be very instructive, and can be called either strong or weak. A formal four part analogy is... a:b::c:d This is read as follows: "a is to b as c is to d". What that means is that the relationship between "a" and "b" is similar somehow to the relationship between "c" and "d."
authenticity Self-conscious appropriation of the conditions of one's own existence and identity. According to Heidegger, such deliberate reflection about the goals and values of life is the only successful response to the experience of Angst without falling into self-deception. Integrity, Sincerity, Genuine, Original, being true to yourself, keeping it real...


anxiety {Ger. Angst} According to many existentialist philosophers, the normal emotional response to the overwhelming responsibility entailed by human freedom. Dread, Anguish, etc.
existentialism A (mostly) twentieth-century approach that emphasizes the primacy of individual existence over any presumed natural essence for human beings. Although they differ on many details, existentialists generally suppose that the fact of my existence as a human being entails both my unqualified freedom to make of myself whatever I will and the awesome responsibility of employing that freedom appropriately, without being driven by anxiety toward escaping into the inauthenticity or self-deception of any conventional set of rules for behavior

determinism Philosophical doctrine that everything in the world including human action is the inevitable consequence of preceding states of affairs and natural Laws. Thus there is no human freedom. Can also be called Conditioning or Causation or Causality, and specifically, the Principle of Sufficient Reason. The most extreme variety is fatalism.

DIALECTICAL ... Writing, arguing, Thinking by means of dialogue, discussion, debate, whether between people or in one mind ... a method that systematically weighs contradictory facts or ideas with a view to the resolution of their real or apparent contradictions ... like looking at "both sides" of any issue, trying to fit them together somehow…