The Architecture of Existential Health: Toward a phenomenology of meaning, mortality and human flourishing

Authors

  • Jim Palmer Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65828/1823v773

Keywords:

Existentialism, nihilism, health, metacrisis, meaning, mortality, sacred, phenomenology

Abstract

Contemporary models of well-being remain incomplete because they overlook the existential dimension. Drawing on philosophy, phenomenology, anthropology, sociology and public health, this article proposes existential health as a fourth domain of human flourishing. It examines how individuals and societies relate to mortality, groundlessness, isolation, meaning, belonging and ecological embeddedness, synthesises a century of existential thought into a developmental framework, and argues for recognising existential health as a public good essential for navigating twenty-first-century crises.

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Published

2026-07-01

Cite This Article

The Architecture of Existential Health: Toward a phenomenology of meaning, mortality and human flourishing. (2026). Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis, 37(2), 316-336. https://doi.org/10.65828/1823v773
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