"Mankind is the only known animal...that defines itself through the act of living." Existentialism is a philosophical movement that argues, "Existence precedes essence." The individual must exercise his freewill to decide his or her own "essential" nature. The existential perspective stresses that humans are completely responsible for their actions. Soren Kierkgaard, one of the first known existential philosophers, insisted that the greatest potential for goodness within an individual is reached when he or she finds his or her own unique calling. The topic of existentialism is extremely broad and defining this philosophy seems endless because there are so many different takes on it.

The concept of existence preceding essence is very important to the philosophy of Existentialism because it describes the only possible reality as the judge of good or evil. If all things continually exist, they would overwhelm us with a huge amount of importance...