While imprisoned, Dostoevsky was allowed to read only one book, the Bible, which had also played a significant part in his early education. He emerged from prison an ardent Russian nationalist and a Christian bound to the tenets of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Dostoevsky was concerned with the justice of God and the idea that "if God does not exist, then everything is permitted."
The Problem
Existence is absurd. Life has no meaning. Death is the ultimate absurdity: It undoes everything that life has been building up to. One is born by chance; one dies by chance. There is no God.
The Solution
One must make use of freedom; only freedom of choice can allow one to escape "nausea."
Historically, philosophy before Sartre was "essentialist." That is, it was concerned with defining the essence of each species, with providing details about generic traits. Existentialism, on the other hand, places existence before essence.
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