Existential despair
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The term despair, when used by existentialists, refers to the fact that all the choices we make are based on uncertain information and an incomplete understanding of the world.
When discussing existentialism, people often are referring to Sartre's philosophy, but generalizations about existentialism should be made with caution, as the term refers to the works of a series of fairly divergent philosophers and authors, rather than a coherent and solitary world view. The one proposition that unifies all existentialists is that existence precedes essence, which means that there is no such thing as human nature or an essential character that is natural or determining for human life.
