How can I compare psychology today with existentialism? What are the strengths and limitations of its approach?

Existentialism is a branch of philosophy that places an emphasis on individual existence, and prioitizes freedom of choice. According to existentialism, people define their meaning in life, and seek to make rational decisions in spite of an irrational universe. This is to say that individual people are to make their own meaning; there is no “true” meaning at the core of human existence. Additionally, existentialism holds that existence itself is the ultimate reality, rather than...

Existentialism is a branch of philosophy that places an emphasis on individual existence, and prioitizes freedom of choice. According to existentialism, people define their meaning in life, and seek to make rational decisions in spite of an irrational universe. This is to say that individual people are to make their own meaning; there is no “true” meaning at the core of human existence. Additionally, existentialism holds that existence itself is the ultimate reality, rather than consciousness.

Existentialism was developed mostly over the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries by a host of philosophers, but especially Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre. The writers Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, and Albert Camus also influenced its development.

As far as the decline of existentialism is concerned, it might be more accurate to say that many of the major tenets of the philosophy have been accepted into mainstream thought, rendering moot the need to label such perspectives as “existentialist” or anything at all.

Existential psychology is an offshoot of the philosophical movement that holds that individual struggle or suffering is the result of a person’s refusal to accept the inherent meaninglessness of existence. Further, existential psychology posits that although every individual is ultimately alone, we desire a connection to other people and to occupy a meaningful place in their lives, which leads to intense anxiety. The solution to this anxiety is personal responsibility and the understanding that validation must come from within.