Towards a Critical Existentialism

Jeffrey A. Bell is Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University. He has recently been a Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor in Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, during which time much of this book was written. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Deleuze and Deleuze and Guattari, including Deleuze and Guattari's What is Philosophy?: A Critical Introduction and Guide (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), Deleuze’s Hume (Edinburgh University Press, 2008), Philosophy at the Edge of Chaos (University of Toronto Press, 2006) and The Problem of Difference: Phenomenology and Poststructuralism (University of Toronto Press, 1998). Bell is co-editor with Paul Livingston and Andrew Cutrofello of Beyond the Analytic–Continental Divide: Pluralist Philosophy in the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2015) and with Claire Colebrook of Deleuze and History (Edinburgh University Press, 2009).

In this profound and original reflection on our current situation, Jeff Bell draws upon a wealth of social scientific research and an astonishing variety of philosophical resources, from Hume, Russell, and Wittgenstein to Kierkegaard, Camus, and Deleuze, to propose critical existentialism as the solution to the most fundamental of problems, that of making sense.

• Introduction §1 Making Sense of Life Signs of Jealousy …to be underminedHume and deliriumMaking sense and problemsMaking Sense of GodSpinoza and the ‘inmost essence’ of GodThe ultimate elements of natureMaking sense of thingsMatters of TasteThe truth one deservesHume’s "Of the Standard of Taste"Constructing problems§2 Communication ProblemsSignal-sign systemsInformation theory Signal-sign systems (with excursus on ethology) Making Sense of Stories Political narrativeTo think against one’s willPlato on contradictory perceptionsCoping with loss (Plato, Stoics, Spinoza) Authenticity (Heidegger) §3 Making Sense of PoliticsArbitrary PowerForced narrativesMaking sense of capitalChallenging NarrativesGood faith/bad faith narrativesConspiracy theories　§4 Stop Making SenseExistentialism RevisitedKierkegaard and infinite differenceSartre on bad faithCamus and metaphysical rebellionFacts and FictionsFinding one’s wayAdorno and critical existentialism§5 Towards a Critical ExistentialismA Sense of PlaceJustified murderWayfinding…à fond perdu Pure Market IllusionsA family affairHume and improvement"…but it is legal."Critical existentialismFreedomLawProgressConclusionBibliography