Talk:Existentialism

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Four men in the image

Given that Simone de Beauvoir was a major influence on existential thought it's strikingly odd to put 4 men in the image in the lead up to the subject. Macgroover (talk) 04:58, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I second this and suggest de Beauvoir replace Dostoevsky. Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 03:57, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I came here to suggest the same in relation to major global influences on this school of thought (e.g.,I wrote a small section on black existentialism). I would further recommend the image in question be removed until a more accurate and representative picture can be found. Otherwise let us leave it blank and rather link to individual pages - non representation should never be a lazy default, especially since it is misleading and inaccurate. Archaeoknowlogy (talk) 15:28, 5 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed – I added a new version with Dostoevsky replaced by de Beauvoir. It uses {{Multiple image}}, since I couldn't be bothered to make a proper collage myself. Not sure if there's any disadvantage to doing it this way. Jhvx (talk) 13:03, 13 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Good.The page needs to diversify; it is too narrowly focused on European thought. This page is about 'Existentialism', not 'European Existentialism'. Archaeoknowlogy (talk) 14:02, 13 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Why Beauvior to replace Dostoevskij instead of Sartre? I think French are overrepresented 151.57.134.52 (talk) 02:50, 30 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Can't we have 5 person or more instead? Removing Dostoevsky is a bad idea. Nawtan (talk) 15:29, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Leopardi

Giacomo Leopardi was 19th, not 20th century... looks like he got added late to this list at some point? 185.104.139.72 (talk) 17:35, 18 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Four men in the image collage, 2025

Left to right, from top left: Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus

As this issue has arisen again, I thought I'd start a fresh discussion regarding an idea that came to mind for a portrait collage in the lead of this article composed of six individuals, rather than four. I have no attachment to the footer wording here, or even the exact choice of portrait for each and their arrangement. I will however note that these six individuals are all named in the lead, and I think "worth mentioning by name in the lead" is a good criterion for who should be included in this collage.

Something I'm taking as a given is that the article is improved with portraits of prominent existentialists, or any image at all, in the lead. This is of course not some strict requirement.

I'm sure there's a more exact word than tokenism for "include the woman, but add back or keep all the men as well" as I have done, so I do want to note my own "solution" has a tokenism-like quality to me, among other issues. Nevertheless, I thought I'd open discussion with it so we can make sure editors are on the same page. Peloneous (t)[c] 22:46, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Peloneous, thank you for pinging me to here. I think the six person collage is a good solution. I could imagine other editors may think it looks cluttered, but since existentialism included a pretty broad group of people I think this arguably fits.

I'll add that my replacement of Simone de Beauvoir with Camus was due to a few reasons:

1. She wasn't considered much of a existentialist philosopher in her time and her legacy as such is overshadowed by her contributions to feminism.

2. Her partner Sartre has more of a significant influence on Existentialism (including his book, Existentialism Is a Humanism) and he was already included in the collage

3. Camus was absent from the collage despite his massive contributions not only the existentialism as a philosophy, but in literature, including the modern popularization of the myth of Sisyphus, which is well-known to this day.

For these reasons I think Camus is a better fit for the collage than Simone de Beauvoir, but I'll rest my case there.

---

While I'm here, I'll say William James is a welcome addition as he provides some variety as a non-European existentialist, but I'll also say he's not quite as well-known as the other members of the collage. Bagabondo (talk) 22:00, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]