Editing Existentialism (section)

== Confusion with nihilism ==
{{See also|Existential nihilism}}

Although [[nihilism]] and existentialism are distinct philosophies, they are often confused with one another since both are rooted in the human experience of anguish and confusion that stems from the apparent meaninglessness of a world in which humans are compelled to find or create meaning.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/nihilism/#H3 |title=Nihilism |author=Alan Pratt |date=April 23, 2001 |encyclopedia=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=[[Embry–Riddle University]] |access-date=November 18, 2018}}</ref> A primary cause of confusion is that [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] was an important philosopher in both fields.

Existentialist philosophers often stress the importance of angst as signifying the absolute lack of any objective ground for action, a move that is often reduced to [[Moral nihilism|moral]] or [[existential nihilism]]. A pervasive theme in existentialist philosophy, however, is to persist through encounters with the absurd, as seen in [[Albert Camus]]'s philosophical essay ''[[The Myth of Sisyphus]]'' (1942): "One must imagine Sisyphus happy".<ref>Camus, Albert. "The Myth of Sisyphus". [http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/hell/camus.html NYU.edu].</ref> and it is only very rarely that existentialist philosophers dismiss morality or one's self-created meaning: [[Søren Kierkegaard]] regained a sort of morality in the religious (although he would not agree that it was ethical; the religious suspends the ethical), and [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]'s final words in ''[[Being and Nothingness]]'' (1943): "All these questions, which refer us to a pure and not an accessory (or impure) reflection, can find their reply only on the ethical plane. We shall devote to them a future work."<ref name="Jean-Paul Sartre 2003"/>