Existentialism

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Historical Context

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Antecedents

Philosophies, in their essence, are designed to grasp the elusive nature of truth, leaving their footprints across the tapestry of history. Take, for example, the echoes of Existentialism resonating in the life of the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes. In the fourth century B.C.E., he established the Cynics, a group marked by their skepticism of society's deceptions. Existential concepts also surface intermittently in global literature, from Job in the Old Testament questioning the relevance of his divine beliefs amidst suffering to Shakespeare's Hamlet pondering the very purpose of existence with his infamous query, “To be, or not to be?”

The first to delve into existential themes was the French thinker Blaise Pascal. In the seventeenth century, he boldly rejected the notion that rational humanity could fully comprehend the divine. Embracing life's chaotic contradictions, Pascal paved the way for later existentialists.

As a structured philosophy, Existentialism began to crystallize in the 1800s through the writings of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. He viewed life as a daunting choice between two opposing paths: the aesthetic, rooted in direct experience and existence, and the ethical, based on ideals. He critiqued the ethical life as false, built on imagined concepts, while finding the aesthetic life unsatisfactory as it led to despair. For Kierkegaard, human consciousness craved more than mere raw experience, which might suffice for an unconscious being. His works, especially Either/Or, were not dry academic essays but rich literary narratives, presenting ideas through character sketches, dialogues, and fictional exchanges.

In stark contrast to Kierkegaard, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was a staunch atheist who saw religious belief as a weakness rendering society vulnerable. Nietzsche's blunt atheism laid the groundwork for the existential notion that life springs from nothingness.

The closest precursor to Existentialism was the twentieth-century philosophy of phenomenology, notably championed by German writer Martin Heidegger. Phenomenology probed how humans could truly know the world beyond their consciousness. Like Existentialism, it leaned heavily on literary examples for insight, granting the fictional realm almost as much weight as the tangible world.

French Existentialism

Although previous philosophers and writers laid the groundwork for this philosophy, it was Jean-Paul Sartre who christened it Existentialism. Educated in the works of German philosophers, Sartre penned his exit exam on Nietzsche and continued his studies under Edmund Husserl, a founding figure of phenomenology. In 1928, at just 23, he encountered Simone de Beauvoir, sparking a lifelong partnership. Their shared journey, despite never marrying, spanned nearly five decades. In 1938, Sartre unveiled his seminal existentialist novel, Nausea, introducing the world to the stark moral desolation and the piercing intellect of existential fiction.

A year after Nausea's release, Adolf Hitler shattered any illusion of peace by invading Poland, prompting France to declare war on Germany, only to be overrun in 1940. Amidst occupied France, the existential movement thrived, its principal figures—Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus, albeit reluctantly—connected in Paris. Their philosophical ideas spread through Sartre's magazine, Les Temps Moderne (“Modern Times”), and garnered international acclaim through their plays and novels. The war served as a poignant backdrop for existential narratives, showcasing protagonists who chose action over passive suffering. In a world gone mad, French Existentialism exuded a tragic Romanticism, portraying heroes who, aware that their efforts would not alter the chaotic societal order, still made noble choices without the illusions of sentiment or religion.

Post-war in 1945, Existentialism became a cultural phenomenon. However, its pioneering writers soon turned to new interests. Sartre gravitated towards Marxism, while the core circle ostracized Camus for rejecting Sartre's political views. Although Sartre continued to identify as an existentialist throughout his...

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life, his subsequent writings never captured the global imagination like his wartime works.

Across the Atlantic, Existentialism peaked in popularity in the 1950s America. Following the 1929 stock market crash, which ushered in an era of hardship, the cautious conservatism of the Depression and war era shifted to a vibrant youth culture. The disenchanted Beat generation, grappling with a sense of meaninglessness in the absence of major political struggles, found resonance in Existentialism's message of a chaotic world and the notion of individuals crafting their own moral compass.

Literary Style

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Persona

In the realm of existential literature, a persona often emerges, akin to a theatrical mask, providing a voice for the author's own experiences and philosophies. The term "persona" originates from Latin, signifying "mask," and indeed, authors frequently cloak themselves in the characters they create to convey their philosophical musings. This practice is especially prominent in existential works. Consider Sartre’s Nausea, where characters resemble figures from his formative years, or the protagonists in Simone de Beauvoir’s novels, who echo her own contemplations. Terry Keefe, in his essay “Beauvoir’s Memoirs, Diary and Letters,” concluded that, despite inherent challenges, autobiographical elements in Beauvoir’s fiction are as revealing and 'accurate' as those in her non-fiction. This tendency to weave personal life into narrative fabric stems from the genre's philosophical roots. Existential authors such as Sartre and Beauvoir, who are philosophers at heart, are deeply engaged in examining their own lives and inner thoughts. Philosophy, after all, is the pursuit of understanding the human condition and one's role within it. Existentialism, in particular, denies the possibility of fully comprehending another's psyche, prompting these philosophers to view their protagonists as extensions or masks of their own identities.

Mood

Existential literature often carries the somber reputation of being bleak and dispiriting. Despite this, writers like Jean-Paul Sartre strive to depict it as an optimistic lens through which individuals can seize control of their destinies. The belief that existentialism is inherently dreary arises from its challenge to conventional sources of hope. Those who trust in divine justification in the afterlife or in scientific progression towards human perfection find existentialism in opposition to such beliefs. In the absence of these external comforts, existential thought confronts the daunting specter of life's meaninglessness, standing defiantly before the void that other philosophies attempt to fill. Titles such as Fear and Trembling and The Concept of Dread by Søren Kierkegaard, a foundational figure in existentialist thought, hint at existentialism's association with despair.

Although existential literature often highlights life's futility, it’s reductive to label despair as its sole message. Typically, the notion of life's inherent pointlessness is followed by illustrations of how personal meaning can be cultivated, as demonstrated in Ernest Hemingway’s short stories. In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” two waiters ponder the bleak existence of an elderly man who frequents their cafe. Yet, the narrative underscores the significance of the cafe as a haven of solace for him. Likewise, “The Killers” portrays a resigned boxer awaiting his fate at the hands of contract killers, narrated through the lens of a young man who refuses to accept a grim destiny.

Structure

Existential authors often eschew traditional chronological storytelling, favoring narratives untethered by past-based causality. Typical narratives rest on the principle of cause and effect, each event seamlessly leading to the next to form a cohesive whole. While other writers construct intricate psychological frameworks for character development, existential characters resist such straightforward interpretation. Consequently, existential narratives often drift through a series of events that may not obviously interconnect.

Embracing an absurd perspective of reality, existentialism disregards assumed norms of existence. In Franz Kafka’s tale The Metamorphosis, for instance, a man awakens transformed into a giant insect—a fantastical scenario that unveils the latent absurdity in ordinary life. Similarly, Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot unfolds in a desolate, unnamed landscape, where two figures linger beneath a tree. The absence of a conventional plot, replaced by a succession of seemingly unrelated events, reinforces the existential belief in the absence of intrinsic meaning or order to life.

Humanism

Humanism, a cultural and literary movement of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, emerged as a counterpoint to the stringent doctrines of the Church. At that time, clerical teachings painted humanity as frail and immoral. Humanism, however, offered an optimistic alternative, positing that humans possess rationality capable of discerning truth and virtue independently of ecclesiastical oversight. In many respects, existentialism can be seen as the zenith of Humanism, as it entrusts the quest for happiness and achievement entirely to human agency, removing it from the grasp of fate.

The question of whether Existentialism truly embodies a humanistic philosophy has sparked much debate. Many existentialists proudly wear the badge of humanism, driven by a deep-seated belief in the power of human agency and the rejection of external forces. Critics, however, argue that its focus on the void and the futility of existence casts too bleak a shadow over the human experience. They balk at the existentialist notion that although actions are essential, they ultimately lack purpose, challenging the idea that this could represent a hopeful stance on humanity.

Jean-Paul Sartre tackled this contentious issue head-on in his seminal essay, "Existentialism is a Humanism."

Movement Variations

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Nihilism

Nihilism whispers of voids and the absence of existence. Often perceived as a shadowy, despondent philosophical outlook, it dismisses values and eschews life's aspirations. Stemming from the Latin nihil, meaning "nothing," the term was introduced by Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev in his 1862 novel Fathers and Sons. This concept is akin to the ancient Greek skeptics' philosophy, who doubted any assured philosophical truths, and it has woven itself into the tapestry of Western thought throughout history.

During the early twentieth century, nihilism was most intimately linked with Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher who perceived it not just as despair, but as a harbinger of annihilation. In his work The Will To Power, published in 1901, Nietzsche contended that the emptiness heralded by nihilism would overshadow other ideologies, ultimately ushering in societal collapse.

As Existentialism surged to global prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, Sartre's depiction of life as "nothingness" was often interpreted as a nihilistic stance. Pioneers of the movement such as Sartre and Camus endeavored to portray Existentialism as a beacon of positivity, yet their assertion that existentialists should embrace life amid its void fell short of convincing many. The persistent rejection of external values inevitably looped back to the notion of existence as void of meaning. This led to a stereotype of existentialists as grim and hollow individuals, though in truth, they considered themselves as resisting nihilism, seeking to imbue life with significance despite its innate meaninglessness.

Absurdism

The luminaries of the French existential movement, including Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Camus, not only penned philosophical texts but also crafted scripts for the stage. Appropriately, one enduring legacy of Existentialism is the Theater of the Absurd. These absurdist plays defied linear narratives, ridiculing conventional storytelling by delivering the unexpected and openly resisting any search for meaning amidst the onstage chaos. As artists have always been inclined to push boundaries and challenge comfort zones, this tendency skyrocketed in the early twentieth century with movements like Dadaism and Surrealism. It wasn't until Existentialism gained international acclaim in the 1950s that absurdity truly took center stage. Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot premiered in 1953, followed by Eugène Ionesco's The Bald Soprano in 1956, and Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story on Broadway in 1959 — all quintessential works in the Theater of the Absurd.

The word "absurd" was first applied to literary endeavors by Albert Camus. By 1961, theater critic Martin Esslin's seminal work Theater of the Absurd christened the flourishing movement. Esslin noted how absurdist drama avoided pronouncements on the human condition, instead presenting it in stark authenticity. This often resulted in scenarios beyond the grasp of conventional reality, yet perfectly suited for the theatrical stage. Unlike existential literature, which delves into inner turmoil and belief struggles, absurdist drama bypasses internal reflections to spotlight the bizarre instability of the external world. Today, Absurdism remains a pillar of theatrical expression, with continual revivals of classic plays from the fifties and sixties, alongside contemporary works that, while not wholly absurd, weave in absurdist strands.

Phenomenology

Jean-Paul Sartre, who first popularized the term "Existentialism" as a philosophical branch, anchored his theories in phenomenology. These two disciplines are intricately connected. Phenomenology, emerging in the twentieth century, probes the intricate dance between experience and consciousness. German philosopher Edward Husserl spearheaded this movement. In his 1913 work Ideas: A General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology, Husserl explored the mind's mechanisms that enable the perception of objects beyond oneself. Given the mind's capability to ponder the nonexistent as well as the existent, Husserl focused on mental activity, setting aside the existential question. He termed actions like memory and perception as "meanings," and the investigation of these meanings as "phenomenological reduction."

Though Husserl is credited as phenomenology's progenitor, Martin Heidegger is often its most recognized figure. Heidegger concentrated on the essence of being, portraying life's experience as "Dasein," or "being there," prioritizing lived experience over abstract notions. Language played a pivotal role in Heidegger's phenomenology, as human contemplation of existence is unimaginable without it. As he expressed, "Only where there is language is there world." His philosophical pursuits paid profound attention to the existential worth of poetry.

While in college, Sartre immersed himself in phenomenology, shaping his Existentialist philosophy informed by Heidegger's ideas. The kinship between these philosophies is evident even in the titles of Sartre’s influential work Being and Nothingness, echoing Heidegger’s 1927 masterpiece Being and Time. Sartre’s Existentialism intertwined Heidegger’s emphasis on language and experience with Husserl’s notion that consciousness extends outward, not inward toward the self’s void. Since the 1940s, these philosophies have been intertwined, often referred to collectively as "existential phenomenology."

Compare and Contrast

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1930s–1940s: As the world plunges into its second catastrophic global struggle in just three decades, it seems international warfare has become the defining trait of the modern age.

Today: Conflicts now emerge as smaller, regional confrontations. One faction might rally a coalition or engage United Nations forces from across the globe, yet it remains unchallenged by an equally powerful international counterforce.

1930s–1940s: Updates on international events journey through the airwaves via radio, leaving much of the world shrouded in mystery. Post-World War II, both broadcasters and audiences heavily invest in television technology. From 1945 to 1948, American households with televisions surge from 5,000 to an astounding one million, and by 1950, 8 million sets have found their place in living rooms.

Today: The internet propels news of global happenings at lightning speed, outpacing traditional news outlets' ability to keep up.

The Atomic Era

1940s: The conclusion of World War II is marked by America's unprecedented use of atomic bombs, unveiling a cataclysmic force capable of obliterating the Earth in mere hours. The ensuing period is famously dubbed "The Atomic Age," as society grapples with the terrifying potential for rapid obliteration.

Today: For three generations, the specter of nuclear devastation has loomed, yet not once have these fearsome weapons been deployed in active combat.

The Youth Revolution

1940s: Returning soldiers from World War II ignite a significant population surge, birthing a vibrant youth culture. The philosophical movement of existentialism, with its focus on the "now," resonates deeply with this youth’s desire to sever ties with tradition.

Today: Marketers have long tapped into the formidable buying power of the youth demographic, tailoring much of popular culture to allure consumers between ages ten and twenty.

Shifting Cultural Power

1940s–1950s: Europe stands as the esteemed epicenter of Western culture, hailed as a beacon of progressive thought. By the 1950s, as Europe struggles to rebuild its war-ravaged industries, America ascends to economic supremacy.

Today: America retains its economic dominance, ensuring that American ideologies garner the global influence once reserved for European intellectuals.

Representative Works

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The Brothers Karamazov

Many of Dostoevsky's masterpieces explore the profound existential struggle between liberty and accountability. Yet, this tension is handled with remarkable finesse in his final opus, The Brothers Karamazov, unveiled to the world in 1880. Within its pages unfolds the harrowing tale of a patricide, leaving the victim’s sons grappling with guilt for their inaction. Among its chapters, "The Grand Inquisitor," stands as a cornerstone of existential thought, predating even the coining of the term "Existentialism." This illustrious section, a dreamscape dialogue, pits an inquisitor embodying the devil against Christ himself, grappling with the essence of human freedom. Widely revered as Dostoevsky's magnum opus, this novel continues to captivate readers with its intellectual depth, cementing Dostoevsky's legacy in Russian literature as a profound philosopher.

The Immoralist

André Gide's influence illuminated the path for French existentialists, particularly through his 1902 novel The Immoralist. It narrates the transformation of a Parisian scholar, whose brush with death during a Tunisian journey with his bride imbues him with a newfound zest for life. Renouncing his scholarly pursuits, he abandons Paris for a pastoral existence, eventually embarking on a journey deep into the African interior. His quest for authenticity and liberation from societal constraints resonates with existentialist themes, as characters often confront the chasm between perceived truths and their realities. In contrast to existential protagonists like Camus’s Meursault, Gide’s Michel is a pensive thinker, lending him complexity that eludes other existential figures typically portrayed as devoid of substance.

The Little Prince

Though The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is often nestled alongside children's literature, perhaps due to its whimsical illustrations or its dismissal of adult-imposed conventions, it emerges as a profound existential narrative. This enchanting tale centers on an aviator, marooned in the Sahara, who encounters a young prince from a distant asteroid adorned with a single bloom. The prince recounts his interstellar odyssey, visiting various asteroids and their eccentric inhabitants. Through its satire of adult seriousness, embodied by characters like a judge and a businessman, the story celebrates the purity of childlike innocence. Since its 1943 debut, it remains a beloved classic, challenging societal norms and championing existential reflections on freedom and authenticity.

The Mandarins

Simone de Beauvoir's novel The Mandarins offers a dual allure for those intrigued by postwar Parisian existentialism. Not only is it a testament to existentialist ideals, portraying characters wrestling with philosophical convictions amid romantic entanglements, but it also serves as a thinly veiled autobiography. Through its pages, Beauvoir chronicles her own personal and intellectual liaisons during the dynamic late 1940s and early 1950s, a period when her shared abode with Jean-Paul Sartre drew the era's leading thinkers. Infusing her narrative with a feminist lens, she presents a perspective unseen in her male contemporaries' works. Garnering the prestigious Prix Goncourt, this novel is heralded as Beauvoir's finest, though it isn't the most commonly read existential piece today.

Nausea

Jean-Paul Sartre's inaugural novel, Nausea, published in 1938, weaves a semi-autobiographical tale of existential angst. Presented through the diary of Antoine Roquentin, a writer plagued by an unsettling nausea not tied to any physical ailment but rather to life itself, it stands as a seminal work in the French existential canon. The novel, with its distinctive narrative style and thematic exploration, sparked intense debate upon its release, splitting critics between admiration and disdain for its perceived obscurity. Today, Nausea is celebrated not only for its philosophical contributions but also for the existential movement it helped ignite, its influence enduring as a cornerstone of existential literature.

No Exit

Jean-Paul Sartre's haunting play No Exit gifted the world the infamous declaration, "Hell is other people." Set within the confines of a sparse room, three characters find themselves trapped together, their memories foggy, as they endure each other's company through the banality of social discourse. It is here they come to realize that their eternal sentence is to be each other's torment. While the iconic line captures audiences’ focus, the play’s deeper inquiry lies in why these souls are damned: they have lived lives of "bad faith," Sartre's term for insincere existence, fearing the void rather than embracing life's inherent absurdity. This seminal play carried the essence of Existentialism across the Atlantic in the late 1940s, resonating with audiences even today through its powerful narrative and enduring themes.

The Stranger Albert Camus’s 1946 novel The Stranger has etched its place as one of the most read works of the twentieth century. Chronicling the life of young Algerian Meursault, who inexplicably commits murder after a trivial altercation, the novel shifts its focus from the act itself to the essence of Meursault’s character during his trial. The prosecution fixates not on motives or actions but on Meursault’s demeanor, scrutinizing his relationships with his mother and girlfriend, underscoring that it is his very existence on trial rather than his crime. This narrative probes deeply into existential themes, examining societal judgments and the nature of personal identity.

Meursault embodies the archetypal existential hero—detached and composed. Unconcerned with the significance of his actions, he embraces accountability for all he does without hesitation. Some critics dismiss this novel as a relic, its worldview as fleeting as any passing fad. Yet others argue that Camus's exploration of alienation and absurdity remains timeless.

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway is often hailed as having an existential lens on life, a perspective vividly evident in his debut novel, The Sun Also Rises. Released in 1926, the narrative follows a war-wounded man, wandering across Europe in search of meaning through perpetual motion and escapism. Hemingway's signature style shrouds the protagonist, Jake Barnes, in mystery, leaving readers to decipher his emotions through precise actions and sharp dialogue. While later works from Hemingway featured more intricate plots, the raw disillusionment and liberating nature of The Sun Also Rises made it a perfect conduit for existential themes.

The Trial

Though Franz Kafka passed away in 1924, his novel The Trial reached completion through the meticulous efforts of his literary executor the following year. The tale centers on Joseph K., a bureaucrat whose life spirals into chaos after being abruptly arrested and released, only to be commanded to attend court without knowing his charges. In typical Kafkaesque fashion, the narrative plunges into the absurd, delving into profound philosophical insights about the individual's estrangement from once-clear societal truths. Written well before existentialism was formally recognized, Kafka's work foreshadows the themes the French philosophers would later explore. Although Kafka's genius went uncelebrated during his lifetime, he is now revered as a towering figure in twentieth-century literature.

Waiting for Godot—Crafted by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, this play premiered in Paris in 1953, establishing itself as a cornerstone of modern theater. The absurdist narrative follows two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, as they linger by a barren tree along a deserted road, endlessly awaiting a mysterious "Godot," symbolizing their futile aspirations. The absence of events across the play's two acts underscores its existential message—the void of meaning when life lacks purpose. Beckett's masterful command of language ensures that audiences remain engaged, even as characters engage in seemingly senseless exchanges, offering a profound critique of contemporary existence.

Media Adaptations

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Step into the intellectual world of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in the 1979 documentary film Sartre by Himself. This cinematic exploration, which debuted in America as a feature film in 1983, is now at your fingertips through Citadel Video. A year earlier, the interviews from this film were immortalized in print by Urizen Books.

The 1994 adaptation of Albert Camus’s haunting novel The Plague brought together the remarkable talents of William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Robert Duvall. This gripping tale is available on cassette from LIVE Home Video.

Relive the enigmatic tale of The Stranger, Camus’s seminal work, through the 1968 film starring the illustrious Marcello Mastroianni, the captivating Anna Karina, and the distinguished Georges Wilson. This French masterpiece, complete with English subtitles, can be found on cassette via Paramount Pictures.

Dive into the world of existential thought with Existence is Absurd, a compelling video exploration of Jean-Paul Sartre’s life. This insightful presentation was a highlight of the Maryland Public Television series From Socrates to Sartre, narrated by the esteemed Thelma Z. Lavine, and is available through Insight Media.

In 1993, the visionary playwright Harold Pinter transformed Kafka’s enigmatic novel The Trial into a cinematic experience.

Uncover the fundamental concepts of Existentialism with the six-videocassette course No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life, offered by The Teaching Company of Springfield, Virginia. Led by Dr. Robert Solomon, this 2000 series spans twenty-four enlightening lectures.

Experience the gripping drama of Sartre’s play No Exit through an audiocassette released in 1973 by the Edwards/Everett Company of Deland, Florida.

The British Broadcasting Corporation’s thought-provoking program Daughters of Beauvoir is captured on a 1989 videocassette, available from Filmmakers Library of New York.

On May 11, 1973, at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., the powerful narrative of Albert Camus’s novel The Plague was brought to life in an audio cassette adaptation. Narrated by Alec McCowan and accompanied by the evocative strains of the National Symphony Orchestra, this recording was released by Decca in 1975.

Bibliography and Further Reading

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Sources

Barnes, Hazel E., Existential Ethics, Alfred A. Knopf, 1967, p. 121.

—, The Literature of Possibility, University of Nebraska Press, 1959, p. 9.

Carruth, Hayden, Introduction, in Nausea, New Directions, 1964, p. x.

Collins, James, Preface, in The Existentialists: A Critical Study, Henry Regnery Co., 1952, p. xiii.

Glicksberg, Charles I., “Literary Existentialism,” in Existentialist Literature and Aesthetics, edited by William L. McBride, Garland Publinshing, 1997, pp. 2–39.

Keefe, Terry, “Beauvoir’s Memoirs, Diary and Letters,” in Autobiography and the Existential Self, edited by Terry Keefe and Edmund Smyth, St. Martin’s Press, 1995, p. 78.

Further Reading

Baker, Richard E., The Dynamics of the Absurd in the Existentialist Novel, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1993. By its nature, absurdity avoids rational understanding. In this study, Baker uses examples from key existentialist novels to illustrate the philosophical basis for the absurdist attitude.

Beauvoir, Simone de, Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre, Pantheon Books, 1984. Beauvoir gives her impressions of the last ten years of Sartre’s life (1970–1980), followed by a lengthy transcript of a conversation that went on between them in 1974.

Bielmeier, Michael G., Shakespeare, Kierkegaard, and Existential Tragedy, Edward Mellen Press, 2000. Starting with the references that Kierkegaard made to Shakespeare’s plays, Bielmeier offers a full existential reading of the tragedies.

Borowitz, Eugene, A Layman’s Introduction to Religious Existentialism, Westminster Press, 1965. The passionate atheism of the French existentialists is often noted, but there is a powerful school that combines existential thought and religious experience. Borowitz’s overview introduces many philosophers and writers who are usually not mentioned in general discussions of the philosophy.

Husserl, Edmund, “The Paris Lectures,” in Phenomenology and Existentialism, edited by Robert C. Solomon, Littlefield Adams Quality Paperbacks, 1980, pp. 43-57. Sartre attended these lectures, given at the Sorbonne in 1929, and they greatly influenced his development of a philosophy of Existentialism that was separate from the Phenomenology of Husserl and Husserl’s successor, Heidegger.

Sartre, Jean-Paul, “An Explication of The Stranger,” in Camus: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Germaine Brée, Prentice-Hall, 1962, pp. 108–21. Originally published in 1955, Sartre’s explication has frequent references to Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus, finding the novel to be one of the greatest of French literature.

Solomon, Robert C., Introducing the Existentialists, Hackett Publishing Company, 1981. Solomon brings the subject of Existentialism to life for readers by presenting imagined interviews with Sartre, Heidegger, and Camus. The result is more focused and less abstract than actual interviews with these authors, serving well as an introduction to their thoughts.

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