Customer Reviews (18)

Existentialism and Human Emotions Reviewed.
This book, I highly recommend to any aspiring student of Existentialism.Sartre takes the time to juxtapose Freudian psychoanalysis with his version of Existential psychoanalysis, which affords the reader an opportunity to feel the impact of Adler on Sartre. Sartre touches all the essential elements of Existentialism, Decisions, time and Existentialism as humanism.This is much better starting point for those interested in Sartre than Being and Nothingness

Existentialism
Yes, I was in fact groping in the darkness about the essence of the philosophy of 'existentialism'so long. I shuffled thru the pages of Satre's magnum opus - Being and nothingness ( I don't know whether I have quoted it correctly)! But yr reference to this edition of Satre's essential philosophy of existentialism has opened the door of my understanding. In fact yr quick despatch of the book has helped me a lot of quintessence of the philosophy. Whether I agree or don't agree with his viewpoint is a different issue. But I thank AmazonBooh Agency, for the prompt arrival of the edition. In fact I badly need a book like this.

Kalyan Kumar Guha

Good
Great translation of a popular writing. By far the most comprehensible of the translations I've found.

Existentialism Made Easy
If Sartre wanted to endear himself to the masses, he did himself no favors with the cover to Existentialism and Human Emotions, with his pipe-puffing professoriality conveying enough know-it-allness to give most anyone not assigned to read it a hearty guffaw. Which is a shame really, as this 96-page essay serves as an excellent primer for anyone who thinks of existentialism as a ponderous, do-nothing philosophy (If all I am to do is exist, why do anything else?), defining the terms, fielding common accusations from other religious and philosophical camps, and connecting existential philosophy to other critical traditions.

That said, the title is a bit misleading, or incomplete at least - it really just introduces and retorts the accusations Sartre wrote the essay in reaction to. It does this brilliantly though, especially on pp18-33 where he fairly systematically explains the philosophical reasoning behind the 3 quintessentially existential emotions of anguish, forlornness, and despair. Outside of this and a section from page 41-51 where he addresses 3 major emotional objections to existential philosophy, he is speaking on a more general plane - I almost think that it would be published today under the title Existentialism for Dummies.

What I found most engaging in the text (mostly the section simply entitled "Existentialism" that takes up the first 51 pages) was his connection of the notion of subjectivity in religious, philosophical, and practical discourse, summed up in this passage from pp22-23: "If existence really does precedes essence, there is no explaining things away by reference to a fixed and given human nature. In other words, there is no determinism, man is free, man is freedom. On the other hand, if God does not exist, we find no values or commands to turn to which legitimize our conduct. So, in the bright realm of values, we have no excuse behind us, nor justification before us. We are alone, with no excuses."

In context of a modern world of jihad, know-nothing consumerism, religious fundamentalism, and a creeping sense of dislocation in both the family and the workplace, Sartre's words are scathingly prophetic, as each of these elements of the modern world has one thing in common: each subjective way of looking at the world is equally right - or equally wrong - and we are without recourse when things don't go as we hoped ("To be sure, this may seem a harsh thought to someone whose life hasn't been a success").

But the wondrous thing about the text is that, despite the focus on words like anguish and despair, Sartre ends up coming off as fairly optimistic. This achieved at least partially by his following the notion of subjectivity with the notion of intersubjectivity - "this is the world in which man decides what he is and what others are." I would describe this as almost a fusion of the classically opposite Civil Society and State of Nature - every person is dependent on other people insomuch as those people influence our own "projects," as Sartre calls them; in other words, when they impose their wills enough that their world, their projects become part of ours.

He follows this up in the short section entitled "The Hole," stating, "A good part of our life [and it may simply be the translator's choice, but I found it encouraging that he said "life," not "lives"] is passed in plugging up holes, in filling empty spaces, in realizing and symbolically establishing a plenitude." He actually hilariously (though not intentionally so) applies this to sexual intercourse and eating in two of the more entertaining passages, with the mouth and the you-know-what being the holes literally and symbolically filled.

Brilliant
Sartre takes atheism to its logical conclusions.He starts with the assumption that there is no God and deduces a proper philosophy based on that one starting assumption.From that point of view, this book is a wonderful argument for theism via reductio ad absurdum.Sartre argue that existence precedes essence, and hence man is totally in charge of his own destiny.There is no human nature, there is no pre-set things that we must conform to, we decide our own fate.There is also no objective moral values.Sartre laments the fact that some say there is no God but still hold to objective moral values and don't act any differently or believe any differently about other things.This book is very, very easy to read and can certainly be read in only one sitting.This is the kind of philosophy that theists need to read and internalize to show atheists the logical conclusions of their atheism.There is no better proof for theism than this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book undertakes a systematic comparative analysis of the political philosophies of Sartre and mealeau-Ponty between 1929 and 1960. It critically explores their pre-war discovery of Husserl, Hegel and Heidegger; It records the impact of the second world war and the subsequent founding of Les Temps Modernes. It also reviews their post-war writing, both journalistic and philosophical. Their eventual divergence of views is hows as developing, against the background of world events, from their initial philosophical outlooks. The book sheds new light on the work of both writers, and sets the question of Marxism's relation to existentialism in historical context. ... Read more

Product Description
Against traditional interpretations, which claim either that Heidegger has rendered all accounts of subjectivity - and consequently of ethics - impossible, or, on the contrary, that Heidegger merely renews the modern metaphysics of subjectivity, Raffoul demonstrates how Heidegger's destruction/deconstruction of the subject opens the space for a radically non-subjectivistic formulation of human being. Raffoul reconstitutes and analyses Heidegger's debate with the great thinkers of subjectivity (Descartes, Kant, Husserl), in order to show that Heidegger's 'destructive' reading of the modern metaphysics of subjectivity is, in fact, a positive re-appropriation of the ontological foundations of the subject. Raffoul's recasting of Heidegger's work on human subjectivity should prove indispensable in future debates on the fate of the subject in the post-modern era. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Afirst-rate analysis of Heidegger's thought of selfhood
This is a first-rate and thorough analysis of Heidegger's thought of selfhood, from the early writings focusing on fundamental ontology to the last seminars in the late sixties and early seventies. Raffoul provides an in-depth treatment of Heidegger's critique of the tradition of the subject, particularly through close readings of Descartes and Kant. He then carefully unfolds Heidegger's ontological appropriation of the subject, focusing on Heidegger's thought of Dasein, of transcendence and being-in-the-world, ecstasis and reflection. The work culminates in a meditation on Heidegger's notion of 'mineness' (Jemeinigkeit), a notion that indicates that the event of being is 'each time mine,' that is, each time my own task to be. Raffoul thus argues that Heidegger's thought is not without a reflection on the proper being of human beings, and that his critique of the subject opens onto a renewed understanding of what it means to be human.This is an important work, for it engages Heidegger's texts rigorously while staying away from sterile polemics. It is both a contribution to Heidegger studies and to the task of a philosophical rethinking of selfhood. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the leading philosophical movements of the twentieth century, existentialism has had more impact on literature and the arts than any other school of thought.Focusing on the leading figures of existentialism, including Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, de Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, and Camus, Thomas Flynn offers a concise account of existentialism, explaining the key themes of individuality, free will, and personal responsibility, which marked the movement as a way of life, not just a way of thinking.
Flynn sets the philosophy of existentialism in context, from the early phenomenologists, to its rise in the 40's and 50's, and the connections with National Socialism, Communism, and Feminism.He identifies the original definition of "existentialism," which tends to be obscured by misappropriation, and highlights how the philosophy is still relevant in our world today.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A Terrific Intro
Thomas Flynn's Existentialism is part of Oxford University Press' "very short introduction" series."Weighing in" at less than 150 pages, Flynn's volume is both short and incisive, providing an introduction to most of the key existentialist philosophers and an overview of most of the key existentialist themes.As a "non-philosopher", I found the book more than accessible; the only exception is the book's final chapter, "Existentialism in the 21st century," which would likely be of special interest to those with a more extensive background in contemporary trends in philosophy.Beyond that final chapter, my hunch is that Flynn's volume will be of special interest to those with minimal prior exposure to existentialist writing.For anyone in that camp, this small volume comes highly recommended.

It ain't a philosophical system, it's a style of cultural expression
The title of my review explains it all.Existentialism as co-opted by philosophers represents a world view that denies that, or perhaps simply rejects, the notion that the universe provides us with a moral compass. A reference is made at one point that existentialism exists in Socrates.I would say that certainly in Plato's "Symposium" Alcibiades represents the authentic "anti-hero" of our modern sensibility.Taken as a style of expression, but neither system of thought nor an "anti-system" of action, existentialism is most often revealed in dramatic or narrative literary forms, not to mention many historical analyses.As Sartre said, and revealed to the world in his dramatic and narrative writings, "We are what we do." Check it out. Skip the philosophers.

introduction or reaffirmation?
I am assuming that this would be a great book if you are a philosophy major (or at least a diligent student of philosophy).Otherwise, Flynn's prose is often so dense and complex that it needs further explanation to reach the clarity of an *introductory* text.Flynn also assumes that the reader can quickly grasp certain scholarly ideas, such as structuralism and phenomenology.So to me, this book appears to serve as a reaffirmation for those already initiated into the arguments and counter-arguments of existentialism.Perhaps I will return to it after I've done more reading and studying.

This is the best book I've read in years
It has been years since I marked up a book as much as I did this one.This is so much more than an introduction to a subset of philosophy.It is a tour of the mind of man wrestling with the questions that inform our lives as we live them.This tour crackles with life at every turn.The intensity and import of the insights revealed simply leap from the page.I can't imagine any true seeker after knowledge and meaning failing to be moved by this book.I can imagine hardened cynics, stoics, and uber-sophisticated postmodernists failing to be moved (and what would move them, anyway?) -- they would probably prefer a treatment other than Flynn's.My takeaway on this book is that Flynn's version of existentialism has the power to serve as an antidote, perhaps as the antidote, to all that has gone wrong with postmodernism.

look elsewhere
You'll do much better reading about existentialism elsewhere. First off, the opening chapter of this book is draining.It's written in philosophical jargon that's takes a lot of energy to decipher.And what's worse is that Flynn seems to know this.Too many times he reels off a vague and ambigious sentence then follows it up with the ever famous: "In other words..."Things do clear up a little in the second chapter but then you face the problem of Flynn not knowing how to structure an argument. He rarely gives examples of what he's talking about and when he does they're not enlightening.By the time he finished with Nietzsche, about 40 pages into the book, I decided to throw it in the trash.$10 wasted.Trust me, there is too much information on the web (Stanford Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of Philosophy) to put yourself through this. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Needs Reprinting
This book has wonderful content but has many quirks in its printing, it sometimes appears as a copy of a copy of a copy, the fonts sometimes are missing their tops and bottoms. It can be read, but the publisher should get an "F" grade in quality control by releasing this edition without a proper update. Don't let the nice cover fool you!!

NOT FOR ME

ON PAGE 258 THE AUTHOR SAYS " ANY ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW THE TRAIN OF THOUGHT OF THE PRECEDING LECTURE IS BOUND, THEREFORE, TO MEET WITH OBSTACLES.
THAT ABOUT SUMS IT UP FOR ME. I TRIED VERY HARD TO STAY WITH THIS BOOK BUT NO DEAL.

GENE ADDINGTON

A decent start, a disappointing collection
Let me first preface this review by saying that you probably won't find a crisper compact collection of works by existentialist philosophers. (Marino's *Basic Writings of Existentialism* might be an exception to this rule, if only for its relative completeness...) But that's not because this book is of especially high quality; there just aren't too many anthologies like this out there.

What is striking about this book is how poorly it introduces the leading philosophies of key figures like Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Jaspers. Here are some more particular comments and criticisms of the different sections. There's a common thread running through my criticisms, and it's this: the editor seems less concerned with giving the reader a sense of the ideas of the authors he includes, and more concerned with justifying their inclusion in the anthology. It's as if he cherry-picked excerpts and articles to show that the philosophers in question could really be considered existential (with the exception of Dostoevsky). So, anyway, without further ado:

(1) Including the first part of 'Notes from the Underground' is brilliant. No quarrel with that.

(2) The section on Kierkegaard is pretty inadequate. My eyes widened when I realized that Kaufmann hadn't included anything from *Fear and Trembling* (at least the first two Problemata) or *Either/Or*-- even though these are considered two of his most important works. Also, Kaufmann decided to put some of Kierkegaard's quasi-autobiographical stuff in there, for reasons that are totally beyond me.

(3) The section on Nietzsche is even worse: it is twelve pages long, containing only short snippets of various books. Nothing from*On the Genealogy of Morals* or *Beyond Good and Evil*-- even though that's where you find quite a few significant essays on truth and objectivity, which you think would be relevant here.

(4) If you're only going to put eight pages of truncated Kafka in the anthology, you might as well leave him out of it altogether.

(5) Seventy-five pages of this collection are devoted to Jaspers; he gets more space in the book than anyone else except Sartre. What the hell? It could've easily been reduced to about half that. Not only that, he picks the unhelpful 'On My Philosophy' and Jaspers' unconvincing criticisms of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche as representative of his philosophical theories.

(6) The section on Heidegger is not too bad, though I came away from it with a very poor grasp of what he was trying to say; it would've been nice to know what his eccentric terminology was meant to refer to. Same with the section on Sartre... it was like being thrown in the deep end on your first swim.

(7) No De Beauvoir whatsoever... sigh...

So, buyer beware: this should be supplemented with extensive reading to acquire the philosophical background necessary to understanding these thinkers. Kaufmann himself offers little to no guidance. His introduction dwells on their intellectual personalities and criticizes their underlying methods without providing the reader with any substantive analysis of their main ideas. And when you're dealing with philosophers whose works are less than perspicuous, you need more than just a meandering, ADD-driven preface; Kaufmann should've at least managed to say nothing in fifteen pages, not forty.

A buffet of existentialism
The book is layed out in a way that you can pick and choose which philosopher you want to read more about.A good read.

The Best Introduction to Existentialism
This anthology of Existentialist texts is the best introduction to Existentialism currently available in English. Walter Kaufmann (best known to philosophy readers as the twentieth century's most important translator of Nietzsche) presents a selection of key texts from Kierkegaard, Dostoyevski, Nietzsche of course, Heidegger, Sartre and others, and Kaufmann prefaces the anthology with a magisterial intro. The most important piece included is the complete text of Sartre's early lecture "Existentialism is a Humanism," the most accessible and clearest exposition of the most influential phase of his thought. If you want to know what Existentialism is all about (or if you already know but want to own a great reference book of essential texts), this is the book to buy. ... Read more

Product Description
Basic Writings of Existentialism, unique to the Modern Library, presents the writings of key nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers broadly united by their belief that because life has no inherent meaning that humans can discover, we must determine meaning for ourselves. This anthology brings together into one volume the most influential and commonly taught works of existentialism. Contributors include Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ralph Ellison, Martin Heidegger, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

I exist only to review this book
So, maybe through no fault of its own, I find this book EXTREMELY difficult to read.I tried on several occasions to engage in what was being said, but found myself glazing over and losing interest entirely.I had much better luck reading Existentialism For Dummies.I don't consider myself extremely intelligent, but I do think I have a better-than-average ability to understand most new things and possess a great deal of common sense.Having said this, I found this book to be so...I can't even put it into words.In other words, if you are looking for an introduction to existentialism, this isn't your book!!Seriously...try Existentialism For Dummies (also sold on Amazon) and you'll actually walk away feeling like you've learned something.

Great Book!
This book is great! Marino chooses key passages written by what can be regarded at the founders of existentialistic thought.A very good introduction into existentialism and just a nice book to read in general.Very highly recommend.

Great
The book was in great shape. ShippingBasic Writings of Existentialism (Modern Library Classics) was fast and safe. Very satisfied with this purchase.

Unexpected Meanings
If you have ever wondered about the universal need for us to find meaning in being, this book is a fine start to launching a personal journey. It is a remarkable piece of scholarship wherein Professor Marino superbly accomplishes the three tasks of a master teacher: relevance, erudition, and invitation.

Since nothing can be more relevant that the meaning of life, and existentialism posits that such meanings are feats of human alchemy (creating something from nothing), the ideas under review are nothing short of an amazing intellectual asdventure into the worlds of erudition (key passages from esistential writers), biography (tumbnail descriptions of the writers' lives) and an invitation to explore a stream of philosophical thought which includes Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, de Unamundo y Juego, Heidegger, Satre, de Beauvoir, Camus and Ellison. Students and members of the educated public may recognize some of these names, but many may have never engaged these thinkwers in a sustained manner. Here is your chance to discover what is happening in philiosophy departments. If your field is one of the social sciences, the work serves as a vital reference book--a source of insight and an effectivwe way to reflect on one's previous learning experiences.

Professor Morino's Introduction, alone, is worth the price of the book because he, like most of us, initially turned to philosophy to seek "answers", but discovered that ideas are powerful and are themselves a way of life. It is a sheer joy to follow his journey in this domain becaue he implicitly shows his enthusiasm for this material through his careful selections. For sociologists, there is a beautiful gem in the unexpected field of research methodology: the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, which is based on the study of experience itself, permits ethnography (the direct observation of, and participation in, different life-worlds) to be seen as an existential project. That never occurred to me, but it certainly explains why those of us who conduct such research often leave our studied scenes with a fantastic store of experiences and insights that can persist for decades--long after one's fieldnotes have turned yellow.

The reason is that when you participate in a life-world that is initially alien to you, one learns to see even the commonplace in ways that are neither expected, nor anticipated: a form of discovery that forever changes and enriches one's life. As such, meanings are imparted that would be otherwise absent, or unknowable. Many cannot, due to lack of training or opportunity, or due to the inherent riasks and time involved, actually conduct ethnographic research. But any reader with the inclination and the curiosity can Explore Professor Marino's journey into a world that they would likely otherwise never know. That is both time well spent, and a risk worth taking, in my view. It may even prove to be meaningful, something that would doubtless delight many of the thinkers whose works are presented in this fine volume.

"I Am" Never Meant So Much Before
I read a good chunk of this text for my German Existentialism class and will absolutely be reading the rest of it on my own.Marino does an excellent job compiling a wide range of existentialist thought and adding short, concise introductions to each philosopher.Even more difficult philosophers like Heidegger and Kierkegaard are made approachable by careful selection from their major works.For people approaching existentialism for the first time I would suggest this book in addition to William Barrett's The Irrational Man, the latter giving a better groundwork for the entire philosophy and Marino's text providing some of the best and most vivid examples of existentialist philosophy.

Existentialism is not for the meek.The texts are difficult and many of the questions they raise may result in life altering answers.For those willing to take the plunge this should not be a deterent, but merely a bump in the road.Marino has selected pieces that can at first seem utterly baffling, but with careful readings (Yes, readings.Things get easier the second time!) all of them are accessible and the benefits and real world applications (Existentialism pops up everywhere--movies, tv, music, art, politics, religion, etc.It is, after all, about existence!) of existentialism are impossible to measure. ... Read more

Product Description
Existentialism is one of few philosophical terms that pervades modern culture, cropping up in movies such as the Matrix and Fight Club, and yet most people don't really know exactly what it means. Using key concepts--including Freedom and the Absurd--Wartenberg clearly presents the ideas of legendary thinkers to a general modern audience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Terrific place to begin learning about Existentialism
Thomas Wartenberg has written a superb introduction to the philosophy of Existentialism. He states, "My goal in writing this book is to reveal the excitement and allure of Existentialism in such a way that even my own teenage self - and thus everyone who has found the Existentialists' ideas useful but hard to comprehend - can grasp them. Whether I have succeeded, of course, is not for me to say." - I believe he has.

Wartenberg covers all the major Existentialists (Heidegger, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus, Kierkegaard, et al) in nine easy to read chapters: 1) Existence, 2) Freedom, 3) Others, 4) Anxiety, 5) Finitude, 6) The Absurd, 7) Authenticity, 8) Oppression and 9) Conclusion. My degree is in Philosophy and I took a class on Existentialism in college and I can say that this book is quite good and that it can prepare anyone to move on to some more challenging books such as Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy or Basic Writings of Existentialism (Modern Library Classics). Highly recommended; I have found that the "Beginners Guides" books are usually very good.

absolutely excellent
Excellent.This is a better read than the Oxford Very Short Introduction title.The professor is articulate and writes in a clarifying manner.The book is well organized and I appreciated the side box background information.

Excellent Introduction to Existentialism
I have had heard about Existentialism, but did not understand its primary concepts and how this philosophy differs from others. Wartenberg presents a lucid and concise review of the main themes and tenets of Existentialism. His style is accessible, the book is well organized, and he includes relevant examples from contemporary literature and arts. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it has spurred me to do further reading on this compelling subject.

Start Here.Don't Necessarily End Here.
Existentialism should be pitied.Its ideas are exciting and urgent.It inspires great novels.It even promises to restore the relevance of philosophy to real life.Yet the movement's canonical philosophical texts are unreadable.Never have so many bedrock human problems been analyzed in such inhumanly turgid (and longwinded) prose.Never has a philosophical movement been so disserved by its most important philosophers.

Fortunately, "Existentialism:A Beginner's Guide" is a fantastic primer for anyone who wants to know the basics of existentialist philosophy.The exposition is clear and logical, and sticks to a few key themes.Concepts are illustrated with examples from literature and movies. The author even uses autobiography to connect abstract ideas to real problems of life.Though a professor, he remembers why ordinary people are drawn to philosophy!

With this book under their belt, readers might want to tackle ponderous tomes by Heidegger and Sartre.But even if they don't (and they might not want to once they get 10 pages into "Being and Time"), they will be left with real insights into bad faith, dasein, anxiety, the "They," and other strange-sounding existentialist ideas that lose much of their strangeness when approached via this book.Highly recommended.

All you need to know about Existentialism in a book that's good to read!
I've been looking for this for a long time: a great little book about Exsitentialism - and a really good read. There's nothing else like it on the market. Mr Wartenberg writes clearly and accessibly about a difficult subject for non-philosophers like me to get our heads round. You can read it as a stand-alone or as a starting point. If you want to read more, the key texts - both philosophy and literary ones - are given. Key figures are given in short thumbnail sketches as and when they crop up in the main text, which gives you a context. The main ideas are explored with the aid of examples and Mr. Wartenberg doesn't get caught up in thecomplicated side-issues and arguments that always arise in philosophy. Read it - you'll be enlightened! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a concise and accessible dictionary of the key terms used in Sartre's philosophy, his major works and philosophical influences."The Sartre Dictionary" is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the world of Jean-Paul Sartre. Meticulously researched and extensively cross-referenced, this unique book covers all his major works, ideas and influences and provides a firm grounding in the central themes of Sartre's thought. Students will discover a wealth of useful information, analysis and criticism. More than 350 A-Z entries include clear definitions of all the key terms used in Sartre's writings and detailed synopses of his key works, novels and plays. The Dictionary also includes entries on Sartre's major philosophical influences, from Descartes to Heidegger, and his contemporaries, including de Beauvoir and Merleau-Ponty.It covers everything that is essential to a sound understanding of Sartre's existentialism, offering clear and accessible explanations of often complex terminology. "The Sartre Dictionary" is the ideal resource for anyone reading or studying Sartre, existentialism or 20th Century Continental Philosophy. ... Read more

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An in-depth anthology of the existentialist tradition – with an emphasis on the philosophy of personal experience.

Customer Reviews (1)

Problematic
This work contains some of the most important existential works, and thus it is a good beginner's book. Unfortunately it has several very problematic spelling errors, and the author's analysis of the philosophers' views in her intro sections is often outside of the norm and not well explained. This is a flawed, but decent book. I'd recommend it only in the case that no other similar title with fewer errors and the same quality of works exists. ... Read more

Product Description
Offering a diversity of strategies and approaches to the philosophical issues involved in reading and thinking about the Presocratics in the wake of Martin Heidegger's thought, the authors explicate the thinking of key figures such as Homer, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Empedocles. The philosophical problems of logos, logic, truth, history, tradition, ethics, and tragedy are presented and re-thought in relation to Heidegger's thinking. Not only is the role of the Presocratics in Heidegger's reading re-thought but also, following a trajectory opened up by Heidegger, questions and readings of the Presocratics that he himself did not broach are pursued. These include: How does logos change in Heidegger's dialogue with the Presocratics? What is the place of the Presocratics in the "other inception" of thinking? How is Heidegger's reading of tragedy also a dialogue with Nietzsche and Holderlin? How do concealment and disclosure function in Homer's corpus? Do the pronouncements of Anaximander bring us to think the beginning of history and to question the need for ethics and justice? How does Anaximenes come to think and speak all that manifests itself? What is the role of presence in Parmenides' divine pedagogy? How does Heidegger come to remember Heraclitus and what is the disruptive nature of Heraclitus' sayings? ... Read more

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Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. The fourteen original essays in this volume focus on the phenomenological and existentialist writings of the first major phase of his published career, arguing with scholarly precision for their continuing importance to philosophical debate.

Aspects of Sartre’s philosophy under discussion in this volume include:

• Consciousness and self-consciousness
• Imagination and aesthetic experience
• Emotions and other feelings
• Embodiment
• Selfhood and the Other
• Freedom, bad faith, and authenticity
• Literary fiction as philosophical writing

Reading Sartre: on Phenomenology and Existentialism is an indispensable resource for understanding the nature and importance of Sartre’s philosophy. It is essential reading for students of phenomenology, existentialism, ethics, or aesthetics, and for anyone interested in the roots of contemporary thought in twentieth century philosophy.

Product Description

Karl Jaspers (1883-1969)—"founder of German existentialism" (Martin Heidegger) and "a lucid and flexible intelligence in the service of a genuine and passionate concern for human life" (William Barrett)—is one of the great thinkers of our time. In this compact discussion of Being, Truth, and Reality he presents what for him is the complete philosophy: "the concentration whereby man becomes himself by sharing in reality."

Customer Reviews (1)

Fantastic overview of Jaspers' thought
Written between "Philosophie" and "Von der Wahrheit," this slim volume provides a fantastic and surprisingly readable overview of Jaspers' metaphysics. Based on a series of lectures, the text is less technical than Philosophie; however, Jaspers manages to explain the Encompassing, Transcendence, Existenz and Ciphers in moderate detail.

I found Grabau's translation much more lucid than the texts included (for instance) within Walter Kaufmann's "Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre." Since Grabau's translation of key terms is similar to E. B. Ashton's translation of Philosophie, I have had no trouble going from one to the other.

Overall, I recommend this book for those interested in delving into Jaspers' metaphysics. ... Read more

Product Description
Hans Jonas, a pupil of Heidegger and a colleague of Hannah Arendt at the New School for Social Research, was one of the most prominent phenomenologists of his generation. This carefully chosen anthology of Jonas's shorter writings - on topics from Jewish philosophy to philosophy of religion to philosophy of biology and social philosophy - reveals their range without obscuring their central unifying thread: that as living, biological beings, we are also beings who die, and who must consider the implications for current and future ethical and social relations. Grounded in Jonas's belief in the inseparability of ethics and metaphysics - the reality of values at the centre of being - and shaped by his experience as a Holocaust survivor, the deeply personal essays "Mortality and morality" arise from a Jewish thinker's attempt to make sense of the Jewish experience in the twentieth century. Lawrence Vogel's insightful introduction provides both historical and philosophical contexts in which to understand the importance and gravity of Jonas's thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Readable
Highly spiritual and respectful of the reader, the text is grave without being pompous. Philosophy without a doubt,nevertheless extremely readable. I recommend it for anybody in search of the meanders of soul and mind, never one without the other. ... Read more

Product Description

Volume 18 of Martin Heidegger's collected works presents his important 1924 Marburg lectures which anticipate much of the revolutionary thinking that he subsequently articulated in Being and Time. Here are the seeds of the ideas that would become Heidegger's unique phenomenology. Heidegger interprets Aristotle's Rhetoric and looks closely at the Greek notion of pathos. These lectures offer special insight into the development of his concepts of care and concern, being-at-hand, being-in-the-world, and attunement, which were later elaborated in Being and Time. Available in English for the first time, they make a significant contribution to ancient philosophy, Aristotle studies, Continental philosophy, and phenomenology.

Customer Reviews (3)

Overwhelmed
In hoping for a canoe, I received a battleship; (with no boarding ramp OR ladder). As a non-academic, I found this rather murky reading. It could be that the series title: 'Introducing' did not actually intend the material to be "introductory", but I certainly took it as such. Thus the lower rating; (2 1/2), if I were able.
The general character of the book, especially in the art style, (I felt), focused so very much on and of 'despair', that I couldn't help but think that, despite (likely) being MILES ahead of myself at the level of intellect and analysis, I daresay the author himself, (Richard Appignanesi) may have missed the 'point' of existentialist thought, which (I) take to be:

* " 'Who we are' is based on the choices we make; that 'who we are' is 'up to US'; overcoming ourselves." *

Again, perhaps too basic for his seemingly (to me), hyper-complex palate.

Having said that, I did not come away from the book without gleaning some "knowledge", and despite the aforementioned "murkiness", I DID find it quite interesting; more however as a personal existentialist journey than an introduction to the concepts of existentialism. Perhaps I'll return to it at a later date... when I "feel smarter".

Not an Introduction
I'm sure this is a very insightful essay about a very arcane topic in Existentialism. However it utterly fails as a primer for the whole philosophy. Only seasoned PhD's will get anything out of this book.

Not an Introduction
I recently became a big fan of the Introducing series, but I'll have to say that this book is both frustrating and disappointing.I do not know much about Existentialism (hence why I bought the book) but I can point to what appear to be some problems with the book with what little I know.For example, the book spends a lot of time concentrating on Husserl, who is arguably not an existentialist philosopher.One of Sartre's central concept of "bad faith" in mentioned only once on page 19 and is not really explained.The famous "Existence precedes essence" quote of Sartre is nowhere to be found.There are probably other major concepts that are missing or not clearly explained, but again, I don't know enough (perhaps even less!) about the subject after reading this book.

Another criticism is the style.Most of the Introducing books tend to go in chronological order or in some logical order showing the development of a particular subject.This book is framed more as the author's own journey into solving particular puzzles that are supposedly connected to existentialism, but it in no way elucidates the subject.It jumps from subject to subject, few of which appear to deal with Existentialism in any way (or in any way that is clearly explained).The writing style tends to be a little thick and phrased in such a way to make the meaning more obscure (e.g. "Heidegger rightly means that the 'crisis' of science is not its own but ours by unmindfulness of how science came entirely to occupy our horizon of 'being in the world'." p. 59).It reads like someone trying to make a simple concept sound more profound by superfluous wording and meaningless analogies.It's like the really pretentious guy at the cocktail party who tells stories about himself and make everything that happens in his daily life sound like an epic of spiritual fulfillment.

In short, this is not an introduction.Without knowing any better, it appears to be the author's attempt to explore what are probably no more than footnotes of Existentialist philosophy and perhaps some of his own interpretations of what other philosophers saw or meant.I did not buy this book to read someone else's dissertation on some marginal concepts.I want to be spoon-fed the basic concepts as conceived by the principal philosophers of the subject.The Introducing Philosophy and even Wikipedia provide a much better overview of the subject in a few pages than this book. ... Read more

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Examination of human consciousness; philosophy, metaphysics, semantics, existentialism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Skip the Tintoretto
Rather than tackle Being & Nothingness (B&N) straightaway, the curious reader interested in exploring Sartre may find this volume a good introduction and preparation before deciding to take on B&N. In fact the first section of this book is actually taken from B&N. The Citadel Press version of B&N is definitely a more reader-friendly book than the Washington Square Press version: the type is cleaner and bigger; the paper is better quality; and the book is just overall better-looking. Unfortunately, it is an abridged version. One entire beginning section has been excised and placed into this volume as Section I. The rationale for this move (as far as I can tell) was that Sartre had republished this particular section at a later date in another volume of essays, incorporating some minor revisions. It amounts to some 60 or so pages of text. Citadel apparently chose to publish only the later version of the text in this volume of essays and cut it out of their edition of B&N. At any rate, reading this first section will give you a generous foretaste of B&N.

The second section is titled "A Sketch on the Theory of Emotions", an early essay that pre-dates B&N by some ten years. As Robert Solomon has written in his excellent book of essays, "From Hegel to Existentialism", this essay provides acomprehensive introduction to B&N in its own right, and is far clearer than the "oqaque" Introduction of B&N itself. It explains Sartre's theory of emotions, a theory he continued to hold throughout his life, even though he never got around to fleshing it out. (Incidentally, Solomon's book provides a penetrating critique of this essay, and is highly recommended.)

The third section is on mental imaging. I found this particular essay to be fascinating reading. It is an exploration of how the mind grapples with difficult concepts by creating mental images of them to help it conceptualize and assimilate them.

The final section of essays is on aesthetics, and was for me the most tedious and uninteresting of the lot. In particular the essay on the Renaissance painter Tintoretto was an absolute chore to read. Sartre psychoanalyses Tintoretto, and really seems to go over the top in analyzing his mind and historical situation. The essay seems to go on forever, is repetitious, and drifts aimlessly.

Jean Wahl's Introduction to Existentialism appears at the beginning of this volume. It was an address which he delivered to various professors in 1946. It is a gentle, sympathetic, non-rigorous introduction, covering all the major figures and themes. Wahl does an excellent job of explaining just what existentialism is. You will, for example, learn exactly what is meant by the phrase "existence precedes essence."

All in all, this book provides a great introduction to Sartre's writing.

Don't miss this book, it will change your life!!!
The scientific study of human nature is primarily a semantic one. This book is a wonderful analysis of consciousness and existence. Check this one out. To Sarte, tally hoe!!!!!! ... Read more

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This volume presents an English translation of a lecture Sartre delivered at the Club Maintenant, along with several pages of dialogue between Sartre and the auditors and critics of the lecture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

We are what we choose to make ourselves
For Sartre Man is thrown into the world without having being asked whether he wants to be here or not. This means in Sartre's terms that Man is born without an Essence, a fundamental nature. That Nature is shaped instead by decisions, by conscious choice, by our freedom.
But human beings, contrary to Sartre are born into family, communal , national , religious traditions. They are born into worlds in which there are values. They do not begin their journeys in life as blank slates.
This means that the ' freedom' which Sartre tends to make his absolute (i.e. while denying that we have a nature he makes Freedom our nature) is qualified and limited for all of us in many different ways even before we begin to make conscious choices.
Nonetheless the pessimistic doctrines of Marxism and certain forms of Christianity which tend in the direction of a total determination of our collective nature , are rightly criticized and qualified by Sartre.
Sartre's celebration of the possibilities of human self- creation and transformation of reality certainly provide a special kind of hope, and youthful sense of our own humanity.
"We are the makers of what we are, of what we are, and what we are not"
I would see parallels here between Sartre's existensialim and James-Dewey American pragmatism.
Nonetheless I would want to argue that in negating the importance of our connection with Transcendence i.e. with God, Sartre woefully, and unnecessarily limits human freedom.
For for many human beings the greatest free act of their life is their choice to devote their lives to making closer connection with God.

Some Thoughts on Morality
Last night I read Jean-Paul Sartre's short manuscript Existentialism and Humanism, in which he set out to defend the existentialist philosophy against criticisms that had been made against it, particularly by Marxists, and particularly for its being (perceived as) overly subjective (amongst other things). I think there is a lot that Sartre says that is just right. Such as, every action is a moral action, including the action of doing nothing. And most importantly, Sartre makes the connection between freedom and morality. This is something that Musil is really sharp on, as well (particularly with the Moosbrugger case in The Man Without Qualities) -- in order for any action to be perfectly moral, it must be perfectly freely chosen; and to the extent that various extra-agent factors impinge on the action, the action is subsequently less moral.This is built into our very idea of what it is to be moral: an action you initiate is something you are morally accountable for; an action that happens from outside of you is something you are not morally accountable for. Now, if as (arguably) the Marxists say, the individual is inextricably determined by the social, there can be no morality, since everything is determined from without. Seen from this perspective, it is clear why many of the existentialists were Christians: Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, and Jaspers, for example. However if we are to take the atheistic line (which I believe with Sartre to be the most consistent with the existentialist principles) we say that even God couldn't help us act morally. Sartre illustrates the point with an example (which is appropriate, of course, since existentialism is a form of moral particularism, in that it says we need to act in each new case on the basis of information we have at hand, and no rules can guide us rigidly from case to case). A young man approached him (Sartre) and said that he had a choice to stay at home and care for his sick mother, or to leave and fight in the war. Caring for his mother had concrete calculable benefits over the short term; fighting in the war has abstract, generalised benefits that may, moreover, have been thwarted (he may have been stuck in a camp or pushing paper at a desk, or whatnot). Sartre says, what can guide the man here? No moral rule can determine what his course of action should be; the decision is the man's freely to make; and this free action is what confers the status of a moral decision on it. And so Sartre simply said to the man, do what you feel is right (or something similar). I think Sartre is absolutely correct to say that existentialism is not mired in subjectivity, or in despair. It is not mired in subjectivity, because your morality is something that is exhibited by your actions (we might even say there is no such thing as a moral thought, only a moral action: something that fits well with liberal political principles [as an aside, one of the interlocuters at the end of the manuscript accuses Sartre's moral system of being simply a variant of 18th Century liberal philosophy, a point which has, I think, some merit]). It is not mired in despair, because there is no correct reponse to the absolute freedom on which morality depends; despair is one reaction; glee is another; and none is more natural or correct than another.

Sartre Defends Existentialism
This book will either make you want to read more about existentialism or it will lead you into making quite the opposite choice by leaving existentialism to others possibly more patient than yourself though not necessarily more intelligent.

Whatever your choice you will nonetheless be making a choice even if that choice is not to make a choice.

Or as Sartre would put it, in a far more philosophical manner, you can always choose but you must know that even if you do not choose that would still be a choice. For what is not possible is not to choose.

This is the first book I have read about existentialism so I cannot judge whether it is a good introduction to this philosophical movement yet the very fact that the purpose of the lecture delivered by Sartre is to offer a defence of existentialism against certain reproaches laid against it, seems by itself to shape the content of the lecture into an attempt by necessity to capture the essence of existentialism. In particular, in relation to the reactions existentialism has provoked.

There are certain key ideas that are very plainly put across to the reader which may well capture one's attention and actually lead to a further exploration of other books about existentialism.

For example, Sartre after referring to the two kinds of existentialists that there are and declaring that he is a representative of atheistic existentialism explains that if God does not exist there is at least one being whose existence comes before its essence, that is to say a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it.

That being, of course, is man.

Thus, existence precedes essence. Man first exists and then defines himself.

Basically, in conclusion to his reference to atheistic existentialism, Sartre adds that the first principle of existentialism is that man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. Not as what he conceives himself to be after already existing but that which he wills himself to be subsequent to a necessary leap towards existence. Basically, man only attains existence when he is what he purposes to be. Whereas, before that projection of the self, nothing exists.

Doubtless this first principle of existentialism gave rise to a reproach against the subjectivity of existentialism. Other ideas and terms used are also examined always with reference made to the particular reproaches Sartre has to answer in relation to such ideas and terms.

All in all, he makes out quite a solid and intelligible defence of existentialism as he explains that the first effect of existentialism is to put every man in possession of himself with the entire responsibility of his existence being placed on his shoulders.

The emphasis in the doctrine presented by Sartre is that there is no reality except in action. Man is described as nothing else but what he purposes with his existence being attained only in so far as he realizes himself. Man is therefore, nothing else but the sum of his actions.

He clarifies further this basic idea by stating - rather poetically in fact - that for the existentialist (though also in reality) there is no love apart from the deeds of love, no potentiality of love other than that which is manifested in loving and no genius other than that which is expressed in works of art.

Throughout the lecture the basic theme delivered by Sartre is that reality alone is reliable and dreams, expectations and hopes serve only to define man negatively and not positively since man is nothing else but what he lives.

One can easily understand how a basic idea such as this could give rise to a reproach for the pessimism of existentialism. Yet, Sartre manages to turn around this reproach and to declare that what people reproach existentialists with is not their pessimism but the sternness of their optimism.

As to the structure of the book, this is divided into three parts each of which can be enjoyed in its own right even though the parts are actually interrelated. First, there is a rather helpful introduction, then the lecture itself and finally the actual discussion that followed the lecture.

An additional benefit to the newcomer to the study of existentialism is the slimness of the book. This means the entire book or any part of it can easily be read time and time again. No doubt each fresh reading will be to the advantage of the reader as it will add to his understanding of the ideas expressed while simultaneously increasing his appreciation of the manner of their expression.

Man Is What He Wills Himself To Be
EXISTENTIALISM AND HUMANISM did not start life as a book.It is actually a translation of a lecture delivered by Sartre in Paris in 1945 at a time when the term "existentialism" was being bandied about ratherloosely.My 1947 copy also incorporates the discussion which immediatelyfollowed the lecture.It is interesting to note that, after a fewlegitimate questions, the discussion became a series of challenges to theexistentialist philosophy by a M. Naville who was a leading French Marxistin post World War II Paris.

Contrary to some comments contained inreviews of Sartre's books and collections of his essays, existentialism isnot an easily understood philosophy and there were, and still are,differences of opinions regarding existentialism, and what it might mean,between major proponents of the philosophy such as Sartre and Gide. (Sartre alludes to this in this lecture.)For this review I will attemptto stick to the opinions stated herein by Sartre.

He led off his lectureby making the point that existentialism was under attack by The Church onone side and the Marxists on the other.He stated that both attacks werebased on misunderstandings of the existentialist philosophy.

As is to beexpected, his starting point for his discussion is the basic concept thatexistence precedes essence, or, putting it into his own words, "Notonly is man what he conceives himself to be, he is also only what he willshimself to be."Carrying this to its logical conclusion; man,individually and collectively, is responsible for his own choices andactions.No excuses accepted.

Another often misunderstood term used indefining existentialism is "anguish."In layman's terms, anguishin existentialism has to do with the doubts surrounding making choices. Sartre uses "the anguish of Abraham" to illustrate.When Abrahamwas instructed to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham had to decide if the instructionreally came from a messinger of God, or, conversely, was the messenger atool of Satan.Then, when he was told not to perform the sacrifice, he wasfaced with exactly the same dilemna.

What I have covered in the lastparagraph was merely the beginning of Sartre's discussion onanguish.

Another aspect has to do with being forlorn.In oversimplifiedterms, this means that we have nothing such as "human nature" orsome predetermined value system to fall back on.Even when relying onsomeone else's advice our final decision is our own. We are trulyresponsible for our choices.How much more alone can one get.

AlthoughSartre discusses many other aspects of the existentialist philosophy, I'dlike to leave these discussions to those who choose to read this lecture. I would, however, like to sum up with the followingquotation.

"(Existentialism) can not be taken for a philosophy ofquietism, since it defines man in terms of action;nor for a pessimisticdescription of man--there is no doctrine more optimistic, since man'sdestiny is within himself;....It tells him that action is theonly thing that enables man to live.Consequently, we are dealing with anethics (sic) of action and involvement."

There's a lot more depth tothose few aspects of existentialism that I did touch upon.For those whoare tempted to use the term, "existentialism," to categorize aschool of writing or as an excuse for certain excesses of behavior, or forinactivity, I would recommend reading this lecture as a starting point inunderstanding the term you are using.If it interests you, you mightdecide to expand your investigation to include other works on the subjectand, perhaps, to further expand, and investigate other philosophicalthoughts of both classical and contemporary thinkers.

Calm and to-the-point...
This book is what got me started on Sartre, it's fairly easy to follow and it explains the basics of Sartre. Quality reading that gets you thinking... GET IT NOW! ... Read more

Product Description
Contributions is an indispensable book for scholars and students of Heidegger, but it is also one of the most difficult because of its aphoristic style and new and strange words. In the Companion to Heidegger's Contributions to Philosophy, an international group offourteen Heidegger scholars shares strategies for reading and understanding this challenging work. Overall approaches for becoming familiar with Heidegger's unique language and thinking are included along with detailed readings of key sections of the work. Experienced readers and those coming to the text for the first time will find the Companion an invaluable guide to this pivotal text in Heidegger's philosophical corpus. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Co-Thinking the Ab-Grund
We are enveloped in this book by an Introduction and thirteen masterful essays, on and in the Heideggerian movement of enowning, a.k.a. the event of appropriation (Ereignis).I use the word "enveloped" with care, as this book is not a presentation that the reader can enact on her or his own as if it entails simply gathering the meanings of key terms and 'ideas.' This is so because the English rendering of Heidegger's key terms is itself an act of enowning that pulls in the reader to re-experience the space between these two great philosophical languages.I have never accepted the absurd claim that English is inferior to German in its philosophical power, scope, and richness.I would venture to say that translations of the terms and sentences of the astonishing text that is the subject of these essays, namely, "Contributions to Philosophy: From Enowning," struggle to exhibit the power of English not only to faintly mimic Heidegger (an insulting idea of the Germanophiles), but to move into other and equally profound momenta of language that bring English to the test of its own resources.
The writers of the essays in the book all have a long-time deep familiarity with Heidegger's key work in the period of the so-called turning (late 1930s) where the Dasein-problematic of "Sein und Zeit" becomes internally transfigured into and with the gifting of time-space, which opens out the reticent ground (ab-grund) that in turn can judge and measure the ungrund of our technological culture.
Rarely does one find a gathering of secondary, yet primary, essays of such high caliber as in this anthology.The "Companion" probes into generic and 'structural' issues as well as into such themes as: the last god, the leap, be-ing (seyn or beyng), beings as a whole (the Greek conception in the first beginning), and things in being.The essays elucidate the tensions between the first ancient beginning and the other beginning that is yet and not yet enacted within the provenance of the first beginning.
For an absolute beginner in Heidegger studies, this is not the place to even attempt a movement of encounter, yet for the advanced novice, this book is accessible on different levels and in different ways.It has opened my eyes to new ways of re-enacting my previous readings of "Contributions to Philosophy," as well as deepening my relationship with one of my most insightful and overturning/re-tuning interlocutors.This anthology is indeed a rare treasure in a decidedly mediocre period in the history of foundational or grounding philosophical query.It is, dare I use the cliche, a must read/encounter. ... Read more

Product Description
Existentialism, 2/e, offers an exceptional and accessible introduction to the richness and diversity of existentialist thought. Retaining the focus of the highly successful first edition, the second edition provides extensive material on the "big four" existentialists--Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre--while also including selections from twenty-four other authors. Giving readers a sense of the variety of existentialist thought around the world, this edition also adds new readings by such figures as Luis Borges, Viktor Frankl, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Keiji Nishitani, and Rainer Maria Rilke. Existentialism, 2/e, also features:* New translations of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Buber* More extensive selections from Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre* New selections by Hazel E. Barnes, Miguel de Unamuno, Joseph Heller, Philip Roth, and Colin Wilson* The Grand Inquisitor (from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov)Ideal for undergraduate courses in existentialism and Continental philosophy, Existentialism, 2/e, is fascinating reading for anyone interested in the subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A great intro to anyone who is interested in the study of existentialism.
Robert C. Solomon takes the best writtings from the greatest philisophers of existentialism and combines them into an awesome 400 page pack. Combined with minor notes and histories, this is a book that should be treasured by any philosopher. If you want one book on the subject, believe me, this is the best you can do.

A Great Overview
I must admit I bought this for a class, but I really enjoyed it a great deal. Typically I dislike books that are simply excerpts from philosophical texts and sell them as soon as the class I need the book for is over, but Solomon provides a nice, concise overview of the most prominant of the existential thinkers as well as some exisential plays and novels. It truly is a great overview of existentialism and would be a great intro for anyone interested in the subject.

Dreadfully good selection
Solomon selects 26 authors, that give a flavor of the attitude of existentialism (up through 1974).The selections from the novelists such as Dostoevsky, Hesse, Camus, Becket and Saul Bellow capture the tone best for me.Although the more philosophical writings of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre are all fairly readable, the selections from Heidegger and Jaspers were rough going.Each author is introduced with a brief background that presents the author in context.

Solomon does not define existentialism nor offer a single dogma to the herd. This is a good thing!Solomon allows the authors to speak for themselves, and nothing more should be expected of this most individualistic of philosophies.Contrasted to Nietzsche's "God is Dead", Existentialism is not necessarily atheistic, as the inclusion of Kierkegaard, Marcel, Dostoevsky, Buber, and Tillich illustrate. Existentialism is nothing if it doesn't emphasize individual existence, so make the choice to stop reading this review, and read the book and write your own review!

good, cheap existential dread, fits in your pocket
This is a diverse and engaging collection of excerpts from a range of works, many of which I have never seen collected in "existentialist" compilations.A good cheap overview of the major writers.I believe these are still first edition paperbacks, and as far as I know, only Amazon.com still has them.So if you want it, you'd better get it now.And if you just want a single volume, inexpensive intro. to Existentialism, then this is what you want.

Good choice of selections
_Existentialism_ includes excerpts from 26 existentialists, from a couple pages in length to over 40 in the case of Jean-Paul Sartre.These excerpts are each preceded by a brief biographical introduction.If the purpose of this book was to pique my interest in further reading of the included authors, it accomplished its purpose. I found myself really touched by the excerpts of Kierkegaard, for example, and have since read much more of him.Editing the work of these great thinkers, might on the surface, seem like a simple task, but now that I am more specifically aware of body of work by Kierkegaard and to a lesser extent, a few of the others, I appreciate the job Solomon did of selecting these texts.Athough I am pleased, I am sure Solomon didn't please everyone!

Robert C. Solomon begins this book with a fine eleven page essay on existentialism.Here are a few excerpts:

"It is a commonly accepted half-truth that existentialism is a revolt against traditional Western rationalistic philosophy.It is also a demonstrable half-truth that existentialist philosophy is very much a continuation and logical expansion of themes and problems in Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Husserl.Existentialism is not simply a philosophy or philosophical revolt.Existentialist philosophy is an explicit conceptual manifestation of the existential attitude--a spirit of `the present age.' It is a philosophical realization of self-conscious living in a `broken world' (Marcel), an `ambiguous world' (de Beauvoir), a `dislocated world' (Merleau-Ponty)..."

"So long as we think of philosophy as a set of (hopefully) true propositions, we will continue to be tempted by notions that philosophy can be a `science,' that there is a correct way of doing philosophy, that philosophical judgement or body of judgement can be true.If instead we allow ourselves to think of philosophy as expression, these rigid demands seem pointless or vulgar."

Some might consider it poor form to read through a book of excerpts, but had there not been such a text, I don't think I would have been exposed to many of the writers that are featured.My appreciation and thanks goes to Robert C. Solomon. ... Read more

Product Description
Philosophical work on the mind flowed in two streams through the 20th century: phenomenology and analytic philosophy. This volume aims to bring them together again, by demonstrating how work in phenomenology may lead to significant progress on problems central to current analytic research, and how analytical philosophy of mind may shed light on phenomenological concerns. Leading figures from both traditions contribute specially written essays on such central topics as consciousness, intentionality, perception, action, self-knowledge, temporal awareness, and mental content. Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind demonstrates that these different approaches to the mind should not stand in opposition to each other, but can be mutually illuminating. ... Read more