Before the events of the 20th century and the emergence of existentialism as a true school of thought, the Enlightenment from 1650 to 1800 brought the first modern philosophers. Among these, the metaphysician Rene Descartes, more than a century before his time, coined his maxim, "Cogito ergo sum", translated from the original Latin "I think, therefore I am", which was the first answer to the first inquiry question of human existence and “perfectly summarizes the philosophical foundations of existentialist thought” (Existentialism). But it was Friedrich Nietzsche's “God is Dead” that perfectly summed up the nihilistic school of thought. Nietzsche was one of the first modern thinkers to rebel against rationalism and when the Russian Revolution, then the First World War, broke out, the revolution against reason and religion had truly begun. The human condition is defined by nihilists and existentialists as a disillusionment of morality by continually demonstrating that not much in life matters and that religion is nothing more than a farce. Nihilism first arose in Russia after the revolution that ended with the death of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, also partially arising from the writings of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. French philosopher Jean-Paul Satre began the French existentialist movement with his lecture at the University of Paris, “Existentialism is Humanism” after the Germans left Paris with the onset of the post-World War II armistice (Watson 406). Existentialism primarily implements the fact that life has purpose when given purpose, while nihilism comes from the thought that very little in life actually has meaning. Existentialist philosophy firmly states that life has no purpose unless it is given a purpose,... .. middle of paper ......literature.com/periods/expistenzialesmo.php>.Exodus. ESV Bible. Crossway.org, 2001. Web. November 20, 2013. .Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon, 2006.1-111. Print.Harris, Sam. The moral landscape: How science can determine human values. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011. 1-112. Print.James, William. The varieties of religious experience. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 1902. 100-122. Print.Nietzsche, Friedrich, Walter Arnold Kaufman and Peter Gay. Fundamental writings of Nietzsche. New York: Modern Library, 1967. 240-309. Print.Moliere. Whole Molière truffle. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2000. 26-51. Press. Web."Something from nothing: nihilism." Something from Nothing: Life After Death, Nihilism, and Modern Philosophy. Network. November 11. 2013. .