Almost no major existentialist philosopher accepted the existentialist label

Evidence

Some books about existentialism never try to answer this question, as it is hard to define. The key thinkers disagreed so much that, whatever you say, you are bound to misrepresent or exclude someone. Moreover, it is unclear who was an existentialist and who was not. Sartre and Beauvoir were among the very few to accept the label, and even they were reluctant at first. Others refused it, often rightly. Some of the main thinkers in this book were phenomenologists but not existentialists at all (Husserl, Merleau-Ponty), or existentialists but not phenomenologists (Kierkegaard); some were neither (Camus), and some used to be one or both but then changed their minds (Levinas). — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 111

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing later: which thinkers are classified exactly how, and why did Camus refuse both labels?
• XREF: Connects to the general pattern of philosophical movements being named by outsiders — like ‘Impressionism’ or ‘Gothic’ as pejorative terms. — connects to: Even Heidegger’s partner could not define what existentialism was — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 637
• DEFINE: Clarifies who belongs to existentialism versus phenomenology, a key orientation map for the reader.

Broader Connections

• Even Heidegger’s partner could not define what existentialism was #exemplifies (0.88) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 637