It is essential to approach global dialogues in psychology with cultural humility.

There are many approaches to existentialism; it is not a singular agreed-upon theory.

Global dialogues can help advance existential therapy and help it remain relevant.

In my opening address at the first International Conference on Existential Psychology held in Nanjing, China, in 2010, I stated, “Existential psychology began in the West, but it does not belong to the West.” Today, I would revise that to state that existential psychology was first labeled in the West, but it does not belong to the West. In my preparation for the Fourth World Congress of Existential Therapy, the question of where existential psychology fits into a global context has again been at the forefront of my thoughts.

While some maintain that existentialism began in the West and that Western views should retain a privileged place, I strongly disagree. Labeling does not equate to ownership. Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are widely considered the first existentialists; however, the first use of the label “existential” in an academic or scholarly context is often attributed to Gabriel Marcel, who first used it in 1943 in a lecture on John Paul Sartre. Later, in 1945, Sartre’s lecture “Existentialism is a Humanism” (published as a book in 1946) led to existentialism being applied as a label to a collection of thought or philosophical movement. The development of the first school of existential psychology, Daseinsanalysis, began in the 1930s, before the more formalized label of existentialism was widely applied.

Because the development of existentialism as a school of thought began before the label was formalized, it is easy to debate the origins of the term. What is clear, though, is that the origins of existentialism as a school of thought predate the label by more than half a century. Furthermore, even at these early stages, there was no agreement on what constituted existentialism. For example, some early existentialists, including Marcel, who first used the label, and Kierkegaard, identified strongly as Christians, and their Christian faith influenced their philosophical views. Others, such as Nietzsche, Sartre, and Beauvoir, held agnostic or atheistic beliefs that were often critical of religion. Arguably, there are few, if any, tenets of existential thought that all who identify or have been identified as existentialists agree upon. Where there is general agreement, such as on the value of phenomenology, there remains disagreement about how to incorporate it and how central it is to existential thought. Both Rollo May (1958a) and Thomas Flynn (2006) maintained that existentialism cannot be reduced to phenomenology. Similarly, phenomenology cannot be reduced to existentialism. These tend to be related, but not all existentialists are phenomenologists.

In the end, existentialism comprises a collection of ideas and themes that have come to fall under the label “existentialism.” Within this collection of ideas, there are no essential tenets that all existentialists ascribe to. Rather, individuals who identify as, or have been labeled, existentialists ascribe to many of these tenets without necessarily agreeing with all of them or understanding them the same way.

Similarly, in preparation for the First World Congress of Existential Therapy in 2015, the scientific committee, comprised of many leading scholars in existential therapy, worked to identify a broad definition of existential therapy (see Cooper et al., 2019). This was not an easy process. Although a general definition was offered through compromise, there remains some tension and disagreement about whether it adequately represents the diversity of approaches.

Given this history, it is problematic to claim that existentialism is solely a product of the West or that it belongs to the West. Similar collections of ideas have emerged around the globe and across human history. For example, zhi mian therapy, developed by Xuefu Wang drawing from the writings of Lu Xun, can rightly be considered an indigenous Chinese existential psychology (Wang, 2011, 2019; see also Dueck & Wei, 2019). Similarly, Lewis Gordon has edited a collection of essays on Black existentialism. Existentialism belongs to the world, not just the West.

The Problem of Western Existentialism

If we are to claim that existentialism is of the West, then the tendency in seeking a global existentialism is for it to become a form of colonization, or, at least, a psychology that privileges Western perspectives while marginalizing views that do not align with the European origins. The agenda becomes extending Western existentialism to other countries rather than learning from a global dialogue. Moats and colleagues (2011) bring a very different view. In discussing their experiences traveling to China to engage in dialogues on existential psychology, the cross-cultural conversations changed and deepened their understanding of existential therapy. These trips helped them recognize biases while learning different ways to understand existence.

If Western existentialism insists on claiming and retaining a privileged place of power when engaging in global conversations, then its development will be stifled, and it will become increasingly irrelevant. Furthermore, insistence on privileging Western perspectives contradicts some of the most important concepts in existential thought. While I have long stated that I am drawn to existential therapy because I believe in its ability to transform the world in positive ways, it will not accomplish this—and will instead do harm—if it is not rooted in cultural humility.

International dialogues hold great potential for helping us learn about ourselves, our beliefs, our biases, and even our existence. They also hold the potential to do harm and replicate the problems, and even some of the horrors, of colonialism. It is not easy to approach these dialogues with a radical openness calling us to allow for our deeply held beliefs to be challenged at times, and to be open to learning from other cultures. Yet this is exactly what the world needs, and even if uncomfortable, it may be what we need as well. Existential psychology is no exception. We must remain rooted in cultural humility and learn from each other through the developing global dialogues.

Cooper, M., Craig, E., & van Deurzen, E. (2019). Introduction: What is existential therapy? In E. van Deurzen, E. Craig, A. Längle, K. J. Schneider, D. Tantam, & S. du Plock (Eds.), The Wiley world handbook of existential therapy (pp. 1-12). Wiley.

Dueck, A., & Wei, G. Q. (2019). The indigenous psychology of Lu Xun and Xuefu Wang. In L. Hoffman, M. Yang, M. Mansilla, J. Dias, M. Moats, & T. Claypool (Eds.), Existential psychology east-west (Vol 2.; pp. 17-46). University Professors Press.

Flynn, T. R. (2006). Existentialism: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.

Gordon, L. R. (Ed.). (1996). Existence in black: An anthology of Black existential philosophy. Routledge.

May,  R.  (1958a).  The  origins  and  significance  of  the  existential  movement  in  psychology. In R. May, E. Angel, & H. F. Ellenberger (Eds.), Existence (pp.  3-36). Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.  

Moats, M., Claypool, T. R., & Saxon, E. (2011). Therapist development through international dialogue: Students' perspectives on personal and professional life changing interactions in China. The Humanistic Psychologist, 39(3), 276–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.2011.592439

Sartre, J. P. (2007). Existentialism as a humanism (C. Macomber, Trans.). Yale University Press. (Original work published in 1946)

Wang, X. (2011). Zhi mian and existential psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 39(3), 240–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.2011.592465

Wang, X. (2019). The symbol of the iron house: From survivalism to existentialism. In L. Hoffman, M. Yang, M. Mansilla, J. Dias, M. Moats, & T. Claypool (Eds.), Existential psychology east-west (Vol 2.; pp. 3-16). University Professors Press.

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