Existentialism Books

Masters of Small Worlds views the relationship between yeomen and planters from a new perspective. Selecting the Low Country of South Carolina for her study, Stephanie McCurry uncovers documents revealing the presence of a much-ignored yeoman class and contrasts their political and social motivations with that of the economically dominant planter aristocracy. McCurry, an Associate Professor of History in the University of California, San Diego and winner of two awards for Masters of Small Worlds, claims that yeomen were not seeking an egalitarian society, but one of republican democracy. McCurry argues that not only were these yeomen masters of their own domain, but they were instrumental in the South Carolinian secession of 1860, acting "in defense of their own identity, as masters of small worlds" (page 304). In order to support her claim, McCurry first identifies her study group. The yeomen of South Carolina, a previously ignored and invisible group accordi! ! ng to the author, emerge as a cohesive and numerically significant class from census documents and court records. McCurry selected the South Carolina Low Country as her study area because of its unique geography that placed yeomen next to planters. This side-by-side arrangement necessitated yeoman-planter interaction. McCurry's argument focuses on the patriarchal structure of plantations and yeomen families. The author cites numerous comparative examples, contrasting the planter and yeomen social relationships and successfully illustrates that white males with absolute authority ran the estates of both. The similarity of structure allowed elite manipulation of the yeomen toward planter-oriented political stances. For example, McCurry states that yeomen identified with the planters enough to feel that a threat to the established social order was a threat to their own mastery and manhood. Ultimately, this identification led yeomen to perceive abolition and unionist sentiment as ! ! a threat and enlist in the secessionist cause. While docume! nting the similarities between planters and yeomen, McCurry also notes the similarities between involuntary servitude and marriage. The author equates the lack of rights and loss of identity for women with slavery, and thus strengthens her argument that the yeomen male was a master in his own domicile. Although arguing that planters and yeomen shared similar social motivations, McCurry stresses that the two classes were unequal socially. To support this claim, the author cites examples of planter wives who snubbed yeomen or wrote of their animosity towards them. Interestingly, women, rather than men, provide clear examples of class inequality. McCurry suggests that men were forced to interact and maintain good relationships with their neighbors, regardless of class, due to business and political dealings. However, women were not so encumbered, and, according to McCurry, rarely interacted. McCurry also addresses the role that evangelism played in the social and political struct! ! ure of South Carolina. According to McCurry, although the churches initially were a yeomen institution, the ministers adopted the elitist doctrine of planters and helped create a yeoman following for paternalism, republicanism, and the continuance of servitude. Ultimately, the pulpit was used to rally church members to the cause of secession, which the ministers assured the congregation God supported. While presenting her arguments, McCurry provides many enlightening insights into the yeomen's world, not the least is the often elusive definition of 'yeoman'. While McCurry notes and even partly adopts traditional definitions, she also uncovers a self-descriptive definition provided by yeoman narratives: a "self-working farmer." This definition clearly states what other historians have missed. Rather than tie a class to the number of slaves or the value of assets, the fact that a farmer did not have enough slaves and owned sufficient land to require "self-work&quo! ! t; made him a yeoman. By taking into account variables such! as land and slaves, this elegant definition is far superior to popular definitions that must be qualified to account for many exceptions. For instance, McCurry classifies families that had up to nine slaves as yeoman because the majority of the slaves were women and children. Many definitions would place these families outside of the yeoman class, as they limit yeomen slave ownership to less than five slaves. However, the productivity of the bondsmen would not be taken into account. McCurry supports Bertram Wyatt-Brown's claim that private space did not exist for southerners. While describing the yeomen, McCurry states that the division of private and public spaces had no meaning. However, McCurry supports this conclusion differently than Wyatt-Brown. McCurry notes that the difference between northern and southern social structures was great, and that the Cult of Domesticity did not penetrate to South Carolina. Because of this, private and public spaces were not considered se! ! parate in the South. Of course, this conclusion dovetails with Wyatt-Brown's code of honor and peer influence and suggests an explanation of this phenomenon. McCurry also notes that a common practice of planters was an annual party that yeomanry attended. According to the author, the purpose of the event was to show off art and architecture to the "hordes" of yeomen and poor whites. While this fact is not significant by itself and, in fact, the author used it to show the inequality of planter and yeomen, it also illustrates that yeomen were not only witnessed planter culture, but were deliberately exposed to it. Coupling this information with the claim that yeomen viewed themselves as potential entrants into the planter class, we can see that architectural emulation is a logical path for the yeomen to take. The information that McCurry presents allows for a greater understanding of the yeomen families that were so important to the South. The yeomen of South Carolin! ! a share much with other southern yeomen. Thus, McCurry's fi! ndings suggest similar motivations for other southerners. For example, the geographic proximity of yeomen to planters in South Carolina is similar to the proximity of yeomen to planters in North Alabama, where valleys and mountains divide holdings of the two classes rather than swamps and rivers. Additionally, the affects of evangelism and its influence on yeomanry and planters in South Carolina equally apply to other parts of the South. Another similarity exists between the South Carolina that McCurry studied and Alabama. Both states had an elite group controlling government by limited representation. In South Carolina, representation of the yeomen class was unequally assigned and the public denied the right to directly express their political positions. Similarly, Alabamians had limited electoral powers, as indirect representation was common. While McCurry's study of the Low Country of South Carolina appears to be a flawless and comprehensive study, its usefulness in stud! ! ying yeomen outside of South Carolina may be limited. Although many similarities exist in the social order of the study and in other parts of the South, South Carolina has a reputation for non-conformity. Therefore, other studies must be cautious about applying McCurry's findings to other areas. McCurry presents readers with many enlightening views of yeomanry. Boldly challenging the popular opinion that yeomen subscribed to an egalitarian/Jacksonian social order, her argument for a republican democracy is convincing. While her findings may not apply universally to all yeomen, McCurry offers many alternative viewpoints to consider when studying cultural patterns of the South. Additionally, the author finds many surprising parallels between planter and yeomen social structures. These revelations, together with her successful argument make Masters of Small Worlds a valuable and interesting addition to any study of yeomen as well as planters in the Old South.

McCurry's 1995 work "Masters of Small Worlds," is an attempt to fill the traditional gap in American historiography of theclass between slave and planters. Her work attempts to address the question of why the South Carolina yeoman elected to defend slavery and the present social hierarchy in the nullification struggle and the succession crisis of 1860. In this aim she is largely successful, by arguing that yeoman's may not have been planters political or social equals, but the institutions of slavery and a rigid defense of property rights gave yeoman's their own sense of power within their own households and communities. Her analysis involves gender relations in the state. Men's position of dominance rested on the cultural institutions that grew out of slavery. Making them masters of small worlds

On the hole: this work is a deeply reward read. Its difficult narrative and heavily structured natures make it a challenge to read but the benefit greatly outweigh the costs.

There is another answer to the existential question- an answer full of hope and not despair. Gabriel Marcel shows us a path to the beauty of who we are and who we can become.

There was a time in my life when I read and reread this work. This does not mean that I understood it fully. But the idea of 'intersubjectivity' and that it is through being with and understanding others that we become most truly human is one which had great influence on me. It took me away as I was looking to be taken away from a kind of philosophical solipsism a kind of sense that all should rest only in 'I' and 'I' that would prove upon reflection 'unstable as water'. Marcel is a humane thinker, one who tries to take us from the celebration of Nothingness and Death to the celebration of life in community with others. I doubt that he is read much today in the English- language world, but to my mind he is a very valuable and helpful thinker . A mensch of philosophy.

Dixon has resolved the conflicting views of two modern geniuses on the lack of wholeness in modern technological culture. This is as current as the madness in Kosovo and Littleton. She cuts throught the jargon, lays out their real, common, and divergent viewpoints, and links them to classical Christian and Grecian thinking. Much of Nietzsche's writings has been totally misread, for several reasons. Buttressed by vast references she explains why, rebuts the errors and reveals an astonishing concurrence between Philosophy and Psychology. She is amazing and very readable while maintaining the highest scholarship.

This is one of the best books on Nietzsche and Jung. It argues very effectively that Nietzsche was not a simple atheist but had his own religious quest. The book is very clearly written despite the difficulty of its subjects. The scholarship is luminous on every page. I've studied Nietzsche and Jung for over twenty years but found myself learning many new things. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in either Nietzsche and Jung. Despite the high price of the book it will be a splendid addition to your library.

I've read many books about Nietzsche. This is by far the best. Unlike Heidegger, Lowith neither looks for nor finds himself in Nietzsche. Rather, he engages with Nietzsche's thought and really tries to understand what the latter understood by his "eternal recurrence of the same."

It's not an easy read, but it is well worth the effort. A marvelous work.

Lowith was a brilliant German-Jewish scholar whose work was published in Berlin at the onset of National Socialism. However, he could not teach due to the racial Laws of the regime. Lowith's book is clearly and beautifully written, and is a superb analysis of the centrality of the Eternal Recurrence and the Superman idea to Nietzsche studies. Highly recommended to advanced students of Nietzsche.

Just finished this book. It was a very excellent summing up of the great one's work, and I especially enjoyed the author's personal takes and commentaries on Sartre's ideas. I really enjoyed reading it and learned a great deal even as I found my mind being refreshed with much of what I was taught years ago in courses on Existentialism. I found the writing to be quite fluid and the theses, summations, arguments and commentaries to be highly understandable and enjoyable to read. I discovered a great deal in the 'Life and Works' section that I had not known before, and the presentation of Sartre's defense of direct realism was very cogent. The author's section discussing Sartre on Nothingness was excellent, and I felt an old thrill running through me as I was re-acquainted with 'the theft of my world', 'le regard', 'shame and pride' and 'the body'. The 'Ontology' section really helped focus and clarify Sartre's ideas for me. The author's discussion of 'free will and determinism' and his presentation of Sartre's ideas on these concepts was excellent. That "the being of human beings is freedom", the concept of bad faith, Sartre on theology and ethics and humanistic Existentialism all made the blood rush to my ears. I had a lot of powerful feelings reading these wonderfully profound and moving insights again. I am quite taken with the author's final statement "Although I agree that obligation to others is central to ethics, I believe this focus needs to overlap with an ethic of self-realization. It would be a shame to lose sight of the imperative of Existentialism to confront our freedom and create ourselves." This speaks so much to us of how we should be "in the world". The author answers beautifully all those endless and careless remarks that are constantly being made by those with no knowledge of Existentialism, who use the word to infer a philosophy of despair, gloom and hopelessness. It is, as the author says, so much the opposite... what could be more stimulating, challenging, thrilling, promising and ultimately 'human' than confronting one's freedom and creating oneself? Could there be anything more important or meaningful in a human life? I want to thank the author for a wonderful book. It goes on my favorite bookshelf.

I'm no expert on Sartre, but I decided to "review" this book because I found it a throughly enjoyable, informative and well-written introduction to the best known existentialist of the 20th Century.

The book starts out with an introduction to Sartre and his place within existentialism. [pp. 1-6.] The second chapter is called "life and works" and is an excellent overview of Sartre's life which deals extensively with his literature and politics. [pp. 7-40.] The final chapters deal with Sartre's epistemology, ontology, psychology, and ethics. [pp. 41-95.] In these chapters, Prof. Kamber quotes extensively (but not excessively) from Sartre's works. The book contains equal amounts of praise and criticism and strikes me as fair and balanced. Although everything is cited, the book doesn't contain footnotes (which I find generally distract and aren't necessary in an introductory work).

I have only a couple of criticisms of this work. First, Prof. Kamber is too easy on Sartre for his support of the Soviet Union. According to Prof. Kamber, Sartre did not break ties with the Soviet Union until the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. [p. 35.] Since the crimes of the Soviet Union were well-known (such as committing genocide in the Ukraine) one would think there would be no excuse for having any ties with such a government at any time. Why Sartre decided to offer at least partial support for years to a nation that committed crimes greater than Nazi Germany's is a question worthy of some discussion. Second, the book doesn't contain a list of recommended books about Sartre.

Prof. Kamber clearly put a great deal of effort to make this book readable and informative. I recommend it highly.

The time lectures of Edmund Husserl are essential reading for anyone interested in the fields of phenomenology, psychology, or time in general. Here, Husserl attempts to unravel the many layers of our consciousness of time. Husserl's extended study stands as the most compelling analysis of the subject in the history of western philosophy and has exerted much influence on research in phenomenology. This particular work is also of interests since what is found here is taken up in much less detail in his other introductions. In addition, this particular aspect of Husserl's philosophy can be seen again in Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. The Brough translation excels in many ways. Brough offers a thorough and clear translation of the work with many scholarly bonuses. This is not to say that he made Husserl easy to read, but he retains the power of Husserl's thought through the difficult translation. He also offers clearifying notes throughout the text that cross reference appendices and sections of the Husserl's notes and an introduction that clearifies the context in which the text was produced and the many difficulties that are present in this work. Brough's translation is far superior to that of the previous english translation by James Churchill. This work is well worth the effort and the translation is the best yet (the price is another story altogether). Husserl's lectures on the consciousness of internal time are of continued value to the student and scholar alike and this editions offers much for both types.

Professor Brough delivers Husserl to English-reading audiences with remarkable flair.

Michel Foucault is probably one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. His critique of how we construct knowledge has had a deep impact in all parts of the academy. Unfortunately, he is also one of the most misrepresented and misunderstood philosophers. Thus, despite his impact, Foucault remains obscure to most outside the ivory tower and even those inside higher education criticize him without completely understanding his work. In this remarkably accessible and persuasive book, political philosopher Brent Pickett attempts to remedy this problem. Staying true to Foucault's `spirit' Pickett presents a useable Foucault. Unlike most students of Foucault's work, Pickett does not simply dismiss Foucault outright or accept everything Foucault says uncritically. Instead, Pickett remains true to Foucault's `spirit' by show how Foucault can be read as "as a theorist of democracy" (1).

This argument may seem odd to those familiar with Foucault's work. Pickett anticipates this criticism by admitting that much of Foucault's earlier work is not sympathetic to Western democracy. This Foucault presents a bleak world of complex discourses and interlocking webs of power, which Pickett outlines in chapter one. Many criticize Foucault for constructing a fairly bleak picture of the world where power is so comprehensive that it would be impossible to resist. To address these criticisms Pickett offers an analysis of one area of Foucault's thought that is a largely unknown and understudied aspect of Foucault's thought: resistance. In chapter two, Pickett presents the best explanation of Foucault's idea of resistance that this reviewer has ever read.

Importantly, Pickett also identifies important shifts in Foucault's thought. In the latter part of Foucault's life, Pickett argues, Foucault began to support a position that can be defined as neo-Aristotelian. This is a side of Foucault that is unfamiliar to most scholars (both his critics and his disciples). According to Pickett, it is this Foucault that has the most to offer Western political philosophy. Thus, Pickett's work offers a `genealogy' of Foucault. Ironically, most of Foucault's supporters and opponents want to represent Foucault as static. One of Pickett's greatest contributions to the vast literature on Foucault shows the dynamic nature of Foucault. Pickett not only points to these shifts but also shows how Foucault can contribute to Western democratic thought.

On the Use and Abuse of Foucault is a must for those who want to understand Foucault's diverse and complex observations of `Western' society. Most importantly, Pickett's work is an excellent (if not necessary) companion to Foucault's work himself. Unlike other Foucault scholars, Pickett has a unique ability to explain Foucault with accessible language, without losing any of the philosopher's complexities. For those who want to introduce Foucault to her/his undergraduate students, Pickett's book is an absolute must. Yet, because of his important explanation of Foucaultian resistance and his persuasive argument that Foucault can speak to neo-Aristotelian politics, Pickett's book is an absolute necessity for scholars in any discipline.

In his new book, Brent Pickett makes a significant contribution to political theory and deepens our understanding of Foucault's strengths and weaknesses. I found his idea of a "democracy of power," and the ways in which he linked participatory democracy to Foucault's analysis, particularly useful. He clearly demonstrates how the diffusion of modern power (so brilliantly described by Foucault) can only be addressed through participatory democracy, transparency, collective response and so on. Pickett's chapter on Foucaultian Rights is strong and his critique of liberal rights is right on the mark. He shows the ways in which Foucault's attempt to define a "new form of rights" while incomplete is helpful in thinking about linking "rights" to new forms of power and oppression. But, he goes on to argue that in this "postmodern" period this new form of right may be unworkable, and thus points us in the direction of a more broad approach--social democracy--a reinvigoration of an agenda for "a strong democracy."

Pickett's willingness to challenge accepted understandings of Foucault and push in new directions is to be applauded.

The price was right and the service was excellent. I needed the book urgently and it arrived promptly.

Dr. Giorgi et al. lay out the phenomenological approach in a very understandable way. Not only is the philosophical foundation explained well, the method is delineated step by step so that the novice can begin to apply it.

The phenomenological method provides an approach that preserves the "voice" of the research participants while maintaining sufficient objective analysis in the process. The chapter authors provide examples of research in which the method was applied. I believe, "seeing is believing" when one reads a phenomenological psychological research report. Unlike the dominant quantitative research methods, one does not have to understand statistics and theory-laden psychological terminology. The phenomenological approach provides a descriptive psychology rather than and interpretive psychology wherein the veracity of its results is lain bare for review by the reader.

In sum, the phenomenological methodology presented in this book provides a sound alternative to those research methods and philosophies that were invented for the physical sciences. For one to fully appreciate the contrast between this cutting edge research methodology and those dominating experimental psychology today, reading Dr. Giorgi's Psychology as a human Science a Phenomenologically Based Approach, published in 1970 by Harper and Row Publishers.

From Booknews: -- looks at the political thought of the two contemporary 20th-centuries philosophers<-->Husserl the founder of phenomenology and Collingwood one of its most read writers. Considers them together because they were addressing the same historical epoch and similar audiences, because the political philosophy of both has been neglected by scholars, and in order to place them in the mainstream liberal political tradition rather than in its more radical fringes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

From Booknews: --looks at the political thought of the two contemporary 20th-centuries philosophers<-->Husserl the founder of phenomenology and Collingwood one of its most read writers. Considers them together because they were addressing the same historical epoch and similar audiences, because the political philosophy of both has been neglected by scholars, and in order to place them in the mainstream liberal political tradition rather than in its more radical fringes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

One reviewer forgot to enter the number of stars. So even though his review made it obvious that he meant to give it five stars, he gave it zero stars. Ergo the average is wrong.

This book is filled with poetry and, if you give to it, it will give back to you.