Product Description

Basic Writings of Existentialism, unique to the Modern Library, presents the writings of key nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers broadly united by their belief that because life has no inherent meaning that humans can discover, we must determine meaning for ourselves. This anthology brings together into one volume the most influential and commonly taught works of existentialism. Contributors include Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ralph Ellison, Martin Heidegger, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70683 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-13
• Released on: 2004-04-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
?Basic Writings of Existentialism will be, for many, a reminder of what first drew them to existentialism and, simply, to philosophy. Marino's introductory essays, taut, instructive, well-tuned to the drumbeat of each thinker's passions and concerns, and the substantial selections from the foremost representatives of the movement, are a benediction. In defiance of Hegel's pronouncements, the thinkers included here introduce us to a philosophy in present tense, and preferably in the active voice. Readers new to existentialism have as reliable a guide as the subject matter permits. Those familiar with movement have an occasion for recollection and more." ?Vanessa Rumble, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Boston College

?This book is a perfect choice for all who wonder what existentialism is all about. The key writers are included -- Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky from the19th Century, and Heudegger, Sartre, and Camus, from the 20th Century. It's good to see selections from Simone de Beauvoir and Ralph Ellison, as well. Marino has a sharp eye for picking telling passages from often long and complex works. It's now clear that existentialism is one of the enduring traditions in Western Philosophy, Art, and Religion, a perspective that articulates and responds to the deepest human needs. These fresh selections lay out the issues, from alienation to reconciliation, from despair to joyful wisdom, that make this world-perspective so compelling. Marino's introductions to each writer, and his introductory overview, are lively and capture the spirit of the chosen texts. A profound adventure awaits those readers ready to immerse themselves in this jewel of a book.? ?Edward F. Mooney, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Syracuse University

"With superb selections and strongly supportive introductory biographies, this is in my judgment the best existentialism anthology out there." ?Merold Westphal, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Fordham University -- Review

Review
“Basic Writings of Existentialism will be, for many, a reminder of what first drew them to existentialism and, simply, to philosophy. Marino's introductory essays, taut, instructive, well-tuned to the drumbeat of each thinker's passions and concerns, and the substantial selections from the foremost representatives of the movement, are a benediction. In defiance of Hegel's pronouncements, the thinkers included here introduce us to a philosophy in present tense, and preferably in the active voice. Readers new to existentialism have as reliable a guide as the subject matter permits. Those familiar with movement have an occasion for recollection and more."
—Vanessa Rumble, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Boston College

”This book is a perfect choice for all who wonder what existentialism is all about. The key writers are included -- Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky from the19th Century, and Heudegger, Sartre, and Camus, from the 20th Century. It's good to see selections from Simone de Beauvoir and Ralph Ellison, as well. Marino has a sharp eye for picking telling passages from often long and complex works. It's now clear that existentialism is one of the enduring traditions in Western Philosophy, Art, and Religion, a perspective that articulates and responds to the deepest human needs. These fresh selections lay out the issues, from alienation to reconciliation, from despair to joyful wisdom, that make this world-perspective so compelling. Marino's introductions to each writer, and his introductory overview, are lively and capture the spirit of the chosen texts. A profound adventure awaits those readers ready to immerse themselves in this jewel of a book.”
—Edward F. Mooney, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Syracuse University

"With superb selections and strongly supportive introductory biographies, this is in my judgment the best existentialism anthology out there."
—Merold Westphal, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Fordham University

About the Author
GORDON MARINO, this volume's editor and introducer, is professor of philosophy, Boldt Distinguished Chair in the Humanities, and director of the Hong Kierkegaard Library at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He was research fellow at the Kierkegaard Biblioteket in Copenhagen for three years. He is also co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard and author of Kierkegaard in the Present Age.

Customer Reviews

Unexpected Meanings
If you have ever wondered about the universal need for us to find meaning in being, this book is a fine start to launching a personal journey. It is a remarkable piece of scholarship wherein Professor Marino superbly accomplishes the three tasks of a master teacher: relevance, erudition, and invitation.

Since nothing can be more relevant that the meaning of life, and existentialism posits that such meanings are feats of human alchemy (creating something from nothing), the ideas under review are nothing short of an amazing intellectual asdventure into the worlds of erudition (key passages from esistential writers), biography (tumbnail descriptions of the writers' lives) and an invitation to explore a stream of philosophical thought which includes Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, de Unamundo y Juego, Heidegger, Satre, de Beauvoir, Camus and Ellison. Students and members of the educated public may recognize some of these names, but many may have never engaged these thinkwers in a sustained manner. Here is your chance to discover what is happening in philiosophy departments. If your field is one of the social sciences, the work serves as a vital reference book--a source of insight and an effectivwe way to reflect on one's previous learning experiences.

Professor Morino's Introduction, alone, is worth the price of the book because he, like most of us, initially turned to philosophy to seek "answers", but discovered that ideas are powerful and are themselves a way of life. It is a sheer joy to follow his journey in this domain becaue he implicitly shows his enthusiasm for this material through his careful selections. For sociologists, there is a beautiful gem in the unexpected field of research methodology: the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, which is based on the study of experience itself, permits ethnography (the direct observation of, and participation in, different life-worlds) to be seen as an existential project. That never occurred to me, but it certainly explains why those of us who conduct such research often leave our studied scenes with a fantastic store of experiences and insights that can persist for decades--long after one's fieldnotes have turned yellow.

The reason is that when you participate in a life-world that is initially alien to you, one learns to see even the commonplace in ways that are neither expected, nor anticipated: a form of discovery that forever changes and enriches one's life. As such, meanings are imparted that would be otherwise absent, or unknowable. Many cannot, due to lack of training or opportunity, or due to the inherent riasks and time involved, actually conduct ethnographic research. But any reader with the inclination and the curiosity can Explore Professor Marino's journey into a world that they would likely otherwise never know. That is both time well spent, and a risk worth taking, in my view. It may even prove to be meaningful, something that would doubtless delight many of the thinkers whose works are presented in this fine volume.

"I Am" Never Meant So Much Before
I read a good chunk of this text for my German Existentialism class and will absolutely be reading the rest of it on my own. Marino does an excellent job compiling a wide range of existentialist thought and adding short, concise introductions to each philosopher. Even more difficult philosophers like Heidegger and Kierkegaard are made approachable by careful selection from their major works. For people approaching existentialism for the first time I would suggest this book in addition to William Barrett's The Irrational Man, the latter giving a better groundwork for the entire philosophy and Marino's text providing some of the best and most vivid examples of existentialist philosophy.

Existentialism is not for the meek. The texts are difficult and many of the questions they raise may result in life altering answers. For those willing to take the plunge this should not be a deterent, but merely a bump in the road. Marino has selected pieces that can at first seem utterly baffling, but with careful readings (Yes, readings. Things get easier the second time!) all of them are accessible and the benefits and real world applications (Existentialism pops up everywhere--movies, tv, music, art, politics, religion, etc. It is, after all, about existence!) of existentialism are impossible to measure.

An existential adventure.
Perhaps more than any other philosophical movement I studied in college, existentialism forever changed the way I view life. Not surprisingly, Editor Gordon Marino begins this superb anthology with a caveat emptor. "The existentialists are not for people looking to read themselves to sleep" (p. xvi). Simply stated, existentialism is a philosophy emphasizing that because life has no inherent meaning, we must determine life's meaning for ourselves. Existentialist thinkers regard human existence as unexplainable, and stress freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. Like my college course on the subject, Basic Writings of Existentialism includes essential selections from Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, and Ralph Ellison. It not only offers an excellent introduction to existentialist philosophy and literature, it also demonstrates that existentialism remains as compelling and relevant as a Bob Dylan song ("I was born here and I'll die here against my will"), an Ingmar Bergman film, or Hollywood movies like The Matrix or Fight Club. This book is more than an anthology. It is a profound adventure.

G. Merritt