https://classletters.org/tags/existentialism/Recent content in Existentialism on Class LettersHugoen-usSun, 23 Aug 2026 15:03:35 +1000https://classletters.org/posts/assorted/existentialism_today_tillich/Sun, 23 Aug 2026 15:03:35 +1000https://classletters.org/posts/assorted/existentialism_today_tillich/<p>A section from the work of the philosopher and protestant theologian Paul Tillich; <em>The Courage to Be</em>.</p> <hr> <p>Existentialism as it appeared in the 20th century represents the most vivid and threatening meaning of &ldquo;existential.&rdquo; In it the whole development comes to a point beyond which it cannot go. It has become a reality in all the countries of the Western world. It is expressed in all the realms of man&rsquo;s spiritual creativity, it penetrates all educated classes. It is not the invention of a Bohemian philosopher or of a neurotic novelist; it is not a sensational exaggeration made for the sake of profit and fame; it is not a morbid play with negativities. Elements of all these have entered it, but it itself is something else. It is the expression of the anxiety of meaninglessness and of the attempt to take this anxiety into the courage to be as oneself.</p>