Introduction to Existentialism

by Marjorie Grene

Indispensable guide to one of the most influential thought systems of our century. Stressing the work of Heidegger and Sartre, it offers a careful and objective examination of the existentialist position and values — freedom of choice, individual dignity, personal love, creative effort — and answers to the eternal questions of the human condition.

Genres: Philosophy

149 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Marjorie Glicksman Grene was an American philosopher. She wrote both on existentialism and the philosophy of science, especially the philosophy of biology. She taught at the University of California at Davis from 1965 to 1978 and from 1988 onwards served as the Honorary University Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Virginia Tech.

Reviews

[Jay Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Difficult to give a fair assessment of this book since it was written in 1948 when Grene would have had access only to a limited number of works by Sartre and Heidegger (Being and Time, What is Metaphysics?, Being and Nothingness, Existentialism is a Humanism), so her exposition of existentialism is necessarily restricted. It is also somewhat skewed by a focus on religious and metaphysical features of the theory, with several chapters devoted to Kierkegaard, Jaspers, and Marcel. Sartre’s phenomenology is largely ignored and Merleau-Ponty and Camus are ignored altogether. Grene describes the work as an “essay,” which is accurate in the sense that it represents a first attempt at encapsulating the existentialist project, but it is highly subjective and partial, as must be expected if a work written so closely to its sources.

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not particularly readable, even for a philosophical work, and somewhat outdated in its mode of viewing. There are much better existential treatments than this out there.