Introduction to Existentialism

Robert L. Wicks is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Ambitious in its sweep and patient in its survey of the major figures in the history of existentialism, this introduction is novel in its attempt to situate existentialism within the broader history of Western philosophy and offers careful and clearly written accounts of the major figures it examines. Wicks goes further than other commentators who have offered introductions and reader’s guides to the subject in that he traces the formative influences on the pioneers of existentialist thought and reinforces these influences as he moves from figure to figure. Wicks further manages to include useful and informative accounts of the influence of existentialism on Christian and Jewish thinkers from the 20th century. At a time when existentialism is all too often seen as a dated and somewhat irrelevant philosophical approach, Wicks does a commendable job of making the case for its continuing relevance in the contemporary world while offering a helpful guide to readers looking to understand the fundamental ideas underlying some notoriously complex texts

• Part I: Historical and Thematic Introduction Part II: Traditional Existentialism1. Soren Kierkegaard2. Friedrich Nietzsche3. Martin Heidegger4. Jean-Paul Sartre 5. Simone de Beauvoir 6. Albert Camus Part III: Varieties of Existentialism 7. Christian Existentialism 8. Jewish Existentialism 9. American Existentialism 10. Existential Psychology 11. Existentialism in the Cinema 12. Conclusion: Why Existentialism Today?Notes Further ReadingIndex