... that they tend to emphasize the richness of human experience rather than construct a tidy framework. Therefore, a precise definition is impossible; however, it suggests one major theme: a stress on individual existence and the subsequent development of personal essence. Existentialists attempt to direct our attention to ourselves as individuals. "They force us to think about our relation to such topics as the existence and nature of God, what it is to be Christian, the nature of values, and the fact of one's own death. Existentialists encourage us to consider, in a personal way, the meaning of living authentically and inauthentically"(Oaklander ix). Man is the only known being, according to the philosophers, that defines itself merely through the act of living. In other words, first you exist, and then the individual emerges as life decisions are made. Freedom of choice, through which each human being creates their own nature, is ...

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