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Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions #153)
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...more
Paperback, 144 pages
Published
November 6th 2006
by Oxford University Press
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The opening chapters feel a bit scattershot. The last few chapters, on the other hand -- esp. the last, on Existentialism in a Post-Structuralist world, the area of Flynn's own scholarship -- are the most technical, the hardest to get into 'dummy' form, and may be the most interesting to those familiar with the likes of Foucault, Gadamer, and Althusser. The chapter on the politics of Sartre and Merleau-Ponty is also surprisingly interesting, though necessarily brief. I wanted a clearer account o...more
Existentialism was written for the Brief Insights series- a series with which I’m not familiar. But Flynn accomplishes what the series purports to provide. It’s a brief overview of the more well known thinkers (with a focus on Sartre) who are commonly grouped together as existentialists. As Flynn openly admits, this is not an exhaustive review. It's a short comparative that lays out some basic points to compare and contrast. At times, Flynn’s summary gets sidetracked by the ambiguous nature of s...more
Despite this text's brevity, Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction is a rather weighty exploration of the moral content of Existentialism as a philosophical movement. Flynn discusses the work of Camus, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Jaspers, Nietzsche, Marcel, Merleau-Ponty, and de Beauvoir primarily to the end of contextualizing Existentialism in the 21st century and setting out to prove that the movement has a compelling degree of moral content that separates it from bourgeoisie intellectualism.
The...more
The...more
As an area of thought that had always interested me but had yet to be looked at in any depth, I found this book a great - as it says on the tin - introduction to the area. Yes, you can't just skim through it in a couple of hours and know enough to hold your own in a brief existentialist chit-chat but, with a little effort, you get quite a lot out of a little package, and I think the author deserves a lot of credit for that.
So, yes, although it is an introduction, it isn't a dumbed-down text, bu...more
So, yes, although it is an introduction, it isn't a dumbed-down text, bu...more
Existentialism is a philosophy that has to do, explicitly, with how to live. It strikes, it hurts - or at least it's supposed to. Existentialism - that's Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus. Theirs - to the extent that we can say any one thing is shared by all - was the philosophy that insisted that the most important philosophy was that which was about living in relation to our mortality. It is a philosophy found in books like "Fear and Trembling," "Being and Nothingness" but als...more
This book was a great introduction to existential thought. I like the format of the book, which includes overviews complete with pictures, biographies of philosophers, and descriptions of philosphical movements. I wonder if the book would have been improved upon if the book were arranged by philosopher rather than types of existential thought.
Assigned this in my Intro. to Philosophy courses in the spring, 2012. This, like most of Oxford's Very Short Introductions, was a fun read. You get the origins and history of the movement beginning in the 30s and 40s, bios of the movers and shakers, and a few excellent chapters, introducing the reader to the motives behind and the ideas of existentialism.
I found the description of Kierkegaard as the proto-existentialist with his theory of "stages" to be insightful (as did my students) and the s...more
I found the description of Kierkegaard as the proto-existentialist with his theory of "stages" to be insightful (as did my students) and the s...more
The best book I have found on the subject. Lucid, concise, and enlightening it. Are you truly an authentic individual? What are the key tenants, texts, and writers of existentialism? Read this book to find out.
A good starting point for anyone interested in the history and key figures of existentialism. It also has recommendations for further reading that delves deeper into specific areas in the back of the book.
Good stuff. Clearly written. Covers the basics. I learned a lot. I didn't grasp all of it for lack of background in philosophy.
Great- simple but thorough overview. It's been a while since college, so wanted a refresher & this is doing the trick!
Very concise and detailed. Gave me lots of additional ideas for writing my papers on Rollo May and Viktor Frankl.
I found this to bea bit of a wade at first. S was noted in a different review, it does get more interesting and less technical as it goes on. It was a good intro to the players of existentialism.
Jun 24, 2007
James
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Philosphers, advanced beginner philosophers
Shelves:
recently-read
This is an excellent introduction to existentialism as a philosophical movement. It was written by philosopher and Emory professor Dr. Thomas Flynn, who is an incredible teacher. This "very short" introduction is a little over 100 small pages, but I think it is a little less introductory than it aims for. Those who have no clue what Existentialism or Phenomenology are might better pick up Barrett's "Irrational Man" first, and then delve into this very good summary of existentialism as a philosop...more
Una gran introducción a los principales exponentes del existencialismo desde sus raíces más antiguas en Socrates, pasando por Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger y llegando a los más actuales y conocidos como Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir y Camus y su influencia en el pensamiento y filosofía del siglo de la segunda mitad del siglo XX y XXI.
Desde debates éticos, morales y hasta el feminismo y la forma en que se produce la estructura social y la forma en que se reconcilia con el pos-modernismo.
Muy rec...more
Desde debates éticos, morales y hasta el feminismo y la forma en que se produce la estructura social y la forma en que se reconcilia con el pos-modernismo.
Muy rec...more
This was a quick and concise summation of existentialist thought. It included all the big names: Camus, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, etc... There was a ton of information packed in, however, and if I hadn't just taken a course in existentialism I feel like I wouldn't have been able to make sense of much of it. As it was, I had a bit of trouble. I suppose it's easier, though, than trying to interpret one of the primary texts on my own.
Helpful introduction that includes amongst its virtues a lack of cartoons and speech bubbles.
This pocket-sized tome battled successfully against my general ignorance on this topic, but was not quite as easily accessible and readable as the cute format had led me to believe.
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This is a series that I work on, so I feel obligated every once in a while to pick one up. Quel resounding endorsement, I know. It's very good, if you're into that sort of thing!
AN ok intro to existentialism but by far not the best one I have read. This was just average to below average. I would say that it was mediocre in comparison to others.
A good short intro on the subject. Though in general this series isn't that great, this book was one exception to the rule in laying out the general idea.
Something about this book was horribly laid out. Better to Read No Exit or some other actual existentialist book.
As the title states, this is a nice summary of the main thinkers, primarily Sartre but also Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, and a general outline to existential philosophy. While unavoidable, philosophical jargon (which I have enclosed in quotes in this review) is kept to a minimum. Existentialism famously values the primacy of pure human (for it is applicable only to humans) existence over our "essences" (all of the "baggage" which we acquire). It separates the cold, hard "facticity" of our past fro...more
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