Existentialism Books

This book served as my introduction to the Logos therapy of Viktor Frankl. I was pleased to see Frankl's abstract theories put into practical application. The authors explaination of the existential void was concise. I highly recommend this book for any counselors, therapists, or others interested in mental health who realize that therapy is moving beyond the couch and into the realm of advocacy.

This book is an excellent look at how the brief therapy paradigm can be used in an existential setting. The wheel of existence is an interesting idea, and provides a useful counterpoint against say, Emmy van Deurezen's ideas, based on Binswangers 4 modes of being. Very interesting.

Editor, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder & Stern's Management Review (stern@hrconsultant.com) The chapters in this work cover a broad range of organizational behavior subjects including: theories of organization; personality; motivation; stress; group dynamics; communications; leadership styles; politics; decision making, conflict, and strategy. The approach to these subjects is influenced by a model that encompasses structure, process and values applied to the individual, group, organization and society. The existentialist approach places emphasis on organizational behavior as an experience from which people derive meaning; involvement in real-world situations is the key. As a result, subjects are related to the experiences of specific organizations and people. The result is a work that is unique and highly valuable. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder, HRconsultant.com Management InfoCenter and Stern & Associates.

In this small book Hunnex grapples with the impact of existentialism on 20th century Christianity. The unorthodoxy of the neo-orthodox theologians is shown as he demonstrates, using their own logic, that the conclusions they've reached are unjustified. The rub is supernaturalism versus naturalism. Orthodox Christianity as a worldview requires a belief in the supernatural. When this is tossed - why keep toying with the title "Christian." An excellent overview for anyone who needs to understand the issues but doesn't have time for an in-depth study of Barth, Brunner, Schleimacher, Bonhoeffer, etc.

Existentialism is such a wide and diverse philosophy and has had so many different contributors with differing views that the term `existentialism' has come to be nearly meaningless. John Macquarrie shows that while there are very few things that `existentialists' will agree on there are still recurrent subjects throughout their writing - such as freedom, decision, responsibility etc. Along with the themes that are common amongst existentialists there is also the common methodology of phenomenology that they share - at the beginning of the book there is a small section that briefly outlines the historical development of phenomenology as well as a description of Husserl's phenomenology - it is in no way detailed, but it's enough to give the reader a rough understanding.

The second chapter of this book traces the existentialist style of philosophizing through the history of philosophy - From the pre-Hellenistic age up until modern times. Macquarrie shows that the existentialist style of thought commonly emerges in a society when people find that their securities are threatened, when social structures and values begin to decay, and when the ambiguities of the world become more obvious.

This book is laid out so that every chapter discusses a separate topic common among existentialist philosophers. The book covers everything form thought and language (chapter 7), Finitude and guilt (chapter 10), authentic existence (chapter 11) and metaphysics (chapter 13). In the final two chapters Macquarrie evaluates the strengths and weakness of existeialism and outlines some of the contributions the philosophy has made in other areas - psychology, ethics, literature, education etc. if you're looking to learn about existentialism this is an excellent introduction.

The Author has aimed at eliciting the relationship between Existentialist ideas and some aspects of Indian thought. In the first two chapters, which briefly review modern Existentialism and it's background, the analogies and correspondences have been just indicated by Sanskrit terms juxtaposed in brackets.

Their fuller implications have been examined in the third and last chapter: with what success, it is for the reader to judge. It is hoped that the transliteration of Sanskrit is sufficiently clear for ordinary purposes, although it may not satisfy the demands of meticulous scholarship.

Of the huge number of introductory texts on this and closely related philosophical subjects this slim book is one of the very best I know. Accessible, clear, concise, yet not "dumbed down." And, the more you know about this subject, the more you bring to this book, the more it is able to give to you.

i found this book enlightening and thoroughly classic

it is one of the best books on existentialism ever written

after reading this book I have come to the conclusion that Kierkegaard is the grandfather of existentialism & is the best existentialist, but Nietzsche was a bit of a stupid totatilitarian Nazi.

Chris Panza is an old philosophy professor of mine, so I was able to review this material before publication. Since authenticity is nowhere more important than in a review on existentialism, I make that disclosure up front. Thankfully, I can attest that the book serves as an excellent introduction.

First, you should know that Dr. Panza is one of the most popular (and challenging) professors at Drury University because he brings a deep passion to teaching. Students love him and his lectures have a crazy ability to stick with you years after leaving the classroom. The good news is that his teaching style translates well into the Dummies format, meaning that you've got a personal copy of the wonderful examples and anecdotes he used in the classroom.

I was skeptical about how well existentialism would fit into a Dummies book. I've used other books in the series on investing and a few other topics, and I've always been impressed with the authors and the presentation... but existentialism? Thankfully, this title continues the tradition of quality. It takes a complex subject and boils it down into a manageable -- and, more importantly for the topic, relevant -- format.

None of the Dummies books are comprehensive treatises on their subject, but they are concise and can act as a foundation for further study. No one will put this book down without a sharper understanding of what it means to be human.

Get this book if you're interested in a life that means something. Existentialism isn't pedantic philosophy, as this book shows... it's about living.

-Jason Swadley
University of Chicago

I had a chance to correspond with the author while he was still alive. He is a thoughtful philosopher in his own right and is sensitive to what other authors are trying to say. I like his translations of the writings of others. He has several books that assemble worthwhile representative collections of various philosophies. This one is a good introduction to Existentialism.