A book for finding purpose and strength in times of great despair, the international best-seller is still just as relevant today as when it was first published.
Existentialism was one of the leading philosophical movements of the twentieth century and had more impact on literature and the arts than any other school of thought. Focusing on the leading figures of existentialism, including Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, de Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, and Camus, Thomas Flynn offers a concise account of existentialism, explaining the key themes of individuality, free will, and personal responsibility, which marked the movement as a way of life, not just a way of thinking.
Begins with the question of 'What is Existentialism?' and then moves on to provide an analysis of the key thinkers, writers and texts--both philosophical and literary--central to existentialism.
While attacks on existentialism claim that the philosophy leads to a kind of nihilistic gloom, Sartre contends that instead existentialism is the only path toward giving man meaning. Sartre turns the typical nihilistic definition of existentialism on its head in this optimistic take on his best-known theory.