What is the essence of this bump?
This is the essence of all bumps to this thread. Also, apologies for not replying to your earlier post, but it didn't make any sense.
Existentialism is a humanism, but that doesn't mean that other animals cannot have emotions such as empathy. Elephants do experience empathy, and yet they are not existentialists, the terms are not exclusive. To make it more clear, you don't have to know why you are experiencing an emotion in order to experience it, neither do elephants.
Existentialism is most easily defined as a philosophical movement concerning the individual, and individual freedom or lack thereof. It's also deeply concerned (particularly 20th Century onwards) with experience, and the nature of it.
This doesn't rule out animals at all! Not a humanism.
Also, I'd like you to demonstrate that there exists no elephant who could be described as an existentialist. What else is there to do in the African grasslands or Indian forests except ponder existence? Other than eat, of course.
As for emotions, which is a different issue: I think you always know why you are experiencing an emotion. If you didn't know why, you wouldn't be able to experience it. Have you ever experienced an emotion but not know why? I can't think of an example of this being the case, personally.
Also, I would love a philosophical-type board.
I'm glad one of the many thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of people who want such a board has come forward in support!
And I guess it could be a general philosophy board, not specifically about existentialism (and gaming).
Anyway, I'll put a poll up, and hopefully that will convince the lazy moderators to click on the admin panel and add a board.