| Absurdity | The existentialist concept that life is meaningless because there is no God to determine right and wrong (or because we can't know what God's values are, if God happens to exist).
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| Angst | Existentialist term for anxiety or anguish, a feel of dread without an identifiable cause. Most frequently felt when one has to make important decision. Different from fear, where the object of the emotion is known.
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| Anxiety | See Angst.
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| Authenticity | Being true to yourself, having personal integtity. Existentialism: no succumbing to the idea that you have no free choice. See bad faith
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| Being-there | Heidegger's term for human beings, or at least for beings who are selef-aware.
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| Care | (1) Heidegger's concept of human existence, involving a Care-structure, being engaged in living. (2) Gilligan's concept of ethics as it is typically viewed by women – an ethics of care rather than an ethics of justice.
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| Cognitive, cognition | The faculty of knowing, examining something rationally.
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| Essence | A thing's inner nature. "Essence precedes existence"; the traditional philosophical conception of reality, including human nature; the theory that there is a design or purpose that nature must follow.
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| Ethics of virtue | The study of moral rules pertaining to the building of character or "how to be".
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| Existence precedes essence | Existentialist belief that humans aren't determined by any essence (human nature) but exist prior to any decision about what and how they ought to be.
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| Existenialism | A Continental school of thought that believes all humans have freedom of the will to determine their own life.
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| Institutional cruelty | Hallie's term for cruelty (psychological or physical) that has become so established, t seems natural to both victimizer and victim.
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| Leap of faith | Kierkegaard's concept of the necessary step from the ethical to the religious stage. It involves throwing yourself at the mercy of God and discarding all messages from your rational mind or your rational mind or your self-interested emotions.
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| Master morality | Nietasche's view of the morality of strong individuals in ancient times: includes respect for the enemy, loyalty to friends and kin, and scorn for weaker individuals. Leads to the concept of the Overman (Superman), the strong individual who has gone beyond the moral rules and sets own standards of good and evil.
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| Ontology | A philosophical discipline investigating the naturfe of existence.
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| Overman, or Superman | Nietzche's term for the individual who has recognized his will to power and created his own system of values based on an affirmation of life.
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