Existentialism: The Philosophy of Despair and the Quest for Hope

by Stephen Evans

Existentialism as a movement tries to come to terms with the most personal and ultimate issues that confront human beings:

Genres: Philosophy

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Todd Grassman]

Loved it! I'm an academic philosopher of the analytic tradition, so, existentialism was very sparsely discussed in my training. I heard this book referenced on a podcast, in the context of critiquing the modern, Christian apologetics project. I had always had a vague interest in Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism and one of the rare Christian existentialists, and so this seemed like a good way to get acquainted with existentialism broadly, and Kierkegaard more narrowly, as Dr. Evans is a renowned Kierkegaard scholar. I was not disappointed!

The broad argument of the book is this: Sartre's existentialism and Camus's absurdism both leave us without any grounds for meaning or morality. Kierkegaard's Christian existentialism, however, gives us a strong foundation for both. So, because meaning and morality are central parts of our lives, we should draw nearer to Kierkegaard and further from Camus and Sartre.