Between absurdity and meaning: Dialogues between existentialism, nihilism, and existential psychology

• Roman Oleksenko https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2171-514X
• Algirdas Pupkis https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3784-5934
• Eduard Kliuienko https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9412-2281
• Jorge Villasmil Espinoza https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0791-3331

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31876/rcs.v32i3.46067

Palabras clave: Existentialism, nihilism, logotherapy, crisis of meaning, late postmodernism

Resumen

The overall objective of this research is to examine the dialectical tensions between Camus’s concept of the absurd, Nietzsche’s nihilism, and the search for meaning in Viktor Frankl’s existential psychology, to understand how these three philosophical frameworks offer distinct responses to the crisis of meaning that characterizes the postmodern condition. The study employs a theoretical-conceptual design based on a hermeneutic-phenomenological and comparative analysis of primary philosophical texts by Nietzsche (The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra), Camus (The Myth of Sisyphus, The Rebel), and Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning), supplemented by secondary sources from WOS- and Scopus-indexed journals (2020–2025). The comparative analysis reveals fundamental tensions regarding the ontology of meaning—whether discovered (Frankl), created (Nietzsche), or defiantly affirmed despite its absence (Camus)—and its implications for contemporary existential ethics. By way of conclusion, the critical synthesis proposes three guiding principles for navigating the postmodern crisis of meaning: genealogical lucidity that questions inherited narratives, absurd solidarity that recognizes the creation of meaning as a collective endeavor, and existential pragmatism that evaluates narratives based on their capacity to promote concrete human flourishing.

Citas

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