What is existentialism?
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Existentialism is about the angst of human existence.  The existentialist comes to a crisis ("The existential crisis") when he realizes the angst of existence, the utter horror of life.  There are different ways of responding to this crisis.\nSoren Kierkegaard says that when one comes to that point, what one must do is take a leap of faith.  This is a Christian existentialism, but many existentialists were/are atheists.  Such as Jean-Paul Sartre.  He wrote a book called Nausee (Nausea) about existence.  It is very depressing!  \n\nBut existentialism does not have to be depressing.  Some may call Viktor Frankl a happy existentialist.  He wrote a WONDERFUL book called Man's Search for Meaning about his own experiences in the Holocaust.  It is all about finding meaning in life.  I HIGHLY recommend that book to everyone!
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Existentialist angst--man is adrift in a universe he cannot possibly account for, and yet is accountable in.  Accountable to what?  To forces beyond his control; beyond accountability.  And if that is not enough, accountable to his own conscience: "Between our own thoughts, we are accused or excused."
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and what is the meaning of life
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"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives. Some people believe that the meaning of life is one or more of the following:\n\nSurvival and temporal success\n\n...to accumulate wealth and increase social status \n...to compete or co-operate with others \n...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance \n...to gain and exercise power \n...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book \n...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction \n...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially \n...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate \n...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension) \nWisdom and knowledge\n\n...to be without question, or to keep asking questions \n...to learn from one's own and others mistakes \n...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom \n...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers \n...to try to understand the meaning of life \nEthical\n\n...to express compassion \n...to live in peace with each other, and in harmony with our natural environment (see utopia) \n...to give and receive love \n...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life \n...to serve others, or do good deeds \n...to work for justice and democracy \nEsoteric/Other\n\n...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context \n...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace \n...to advance natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race \n...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future human \n...to become God, or God-like \n...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me") \n...to die, or become a martyr \n...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. God) \n...to give life meaning (an example of antimetabole) \n...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity) \n...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny \n...to relate, connect, or achieve unity with others \n...to seek and find beauty \n...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose, existence has no meaning beyond which one chooses to give it) \n...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God \n...to have a purpose
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The answer to this question entirely depends upon the person who is answering it AND upon their individual belief system.  If I say I believe the answer is "no", that has a certain meaning.  If I say that I believe that answer is "yes" that has an entirely different meaning.  Ultimately it is an existential question that addresses developmental issues of self/other (environment) and...existence.
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Life is meaningless. We have to create meaning in order to have meaning. Life would be darn boring if there's no meaning.
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The meaning of life is to always wonder about what might be the meaning of life. Its like a rat in one of those spinning circles..you just keep wondering and wondering but you never get anywhere
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Huh, who says yahoo answers is not constructive.  You learn something new everyday...Ignosticism is the view that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because it has no verifiable (or testable) consequences and should therefore be ignored.  I must say that yes, on some days I am indeed ignostic.
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a controversial belief system developed by L. Ron Hubbard, based on a person being an immortal spiritual being whose survival depends on him/herself and his/her attainment of brotherhood with others and the universe\nHope that helps ya! God Bless!!
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Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth or falsity of certain claims—particularly theological claims regarding the existence of God or gods—is unknown, unknowable, or incoherent. Some agnostics infer from this that these claims are irrelevant to the meaning of life.\n\nMyself on the other hand, I am a Christian and a firm believer that God dictates everything that happens around me. Everything happens for a reason. I do NOT believe I evolved from prime-apes.\nPeople who are Agnostic obviously have not put enough faith into God, even though the small miracles in their lives everyday like waking up, seeing the beauty outside their own door and being provided with abundance of blessings each day should be enough proof for them that a kind and caring God DOES exist.
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If there was a specific point to life, one thing you had to do to "win", one thing that absolutely everyone had to work towards or one thing that absolutely everyone had to do... do you really believe that would be better? I think that "why bother?" would be a very good question to ask a person living in a world like that. \n\nInstead you get to pick your own things to work towards, your own reasons for living. Nobody can tell you what the point of your life is, you have to decide that for yourself. That's why it's worth bothering - you can actually enjoy doing and working towards things when everyone in the world isn't doing and working towards the exact same things. \n\nThe point is that there is no point, and that is why it is good.
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The meaning of life is to live indipendently,being able to be indipendent,be knowledgeble,become a person who will be helpful for other persons,society,nation,world.A meaningful life means a truthful life i.e. know,belief,support the right things in any condition of life.Meaningful life means a life that makes others' lives meaningful.
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there is no point. but i'll try to blind link you anyways http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/meaning_of_life
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Existentialist angst is a part of modern life, nobody can escpe it. Anarchists are not imune.
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Giving someone the best of your knowledge, skills, or desires when their fingers have been retrieved from a dog's stomach is not existentialism. It is humanitarianism.
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secular humanism\nn.\nAn outlook or philosophy that advocates human rather than religious values.\n\nSecular humanism is an active lifestance that holds a naturalisic worldview and advocates the use of reason, compassion, scientific inquiry, ethics, justice and equality.\n\n"Secular humanism" is distinguished from the broader "humanism" in that the secular Humanist prefers free inquiry over dogma wisdom—upholding the scientific method for inquiry, while rejecting "revealed knowledge" and theistic morality, though not necessarily faith. Secular humanism has appeal to athiests, agnostics, freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, and materialists. Its basic tenets may be simplified as:\n\nHumans have value and can solve human problems \nScience, free speech, rational thought, democracy, and freedom in the arts go together \nThere is nothing supernatural
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life (līf) pronunciation\nn., pl. lives (līvz).\n\n   1.\n         1. The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism.\n         2. The characteristic state or condition of a living organism.\n   2. Living organisms considered as a group: plant life; marine life.\n   3. A living being, especially a person: an earthquake that claimed hundreds of lives.\n   4. The physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute existence: the artistic life of a writer.\n   5.\n         1. The interval of time between birth and death: She led a good, long life.\n         2. The interval of time between one's birth and the present: has had hay fever all his life.\n         3. A particular segment of one's life: my adolescent life.\n         4. The period from an occurrence until death: elected for life; paralyzed for life.\n         5. Slang. A sentence of imprisonment lasting till death.\n   6. The time for which something exists or functions: the useful life of a car.\n   7. A spiritual state regarded as a transcending of corporeal death.\n   8. An account of a person's life; a biography.\n   9. Human existence, relationships, or activity in general: real life; everyday life.\n  10.\n         1. A manner of living: led a hard life.\n         2. A specific, characteristic manner of existence. Used of inanimate objects: “Great institutions seem to have a life of their own, independent of those who run them” (New Republic).\n         3. The activities and interests of a particular area or realm: musical life in New York.\n  11.\n         1. A source of vitality; an animating force: She's the life of the show.\n         2. Liveliness or vitality; animation: a face that is full of life.\n  12.\n         1. Something that actually exists regarded as a subject for an artist: painted from life.\n         2. Actual environment or reality; nature.\n\nadj.\n\n   1. Of or relating to animate existence; involved in or necessary for living: life processes.\n   2. Continuing for a lifetime; lifelong: life partner; life imprisonment.\n   3. Using a living model as a subject for an artist: a life sculpture.