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Product Details
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: New American Library; Revised & enlarged edition (March 1, 1975)
Walter Kaufmann's book, "The Faith of a Heretic" was the work which brought me to study philosophy, and I have been a fan of his writings and translations ever since, but, like some reviewers have said, if your interest is to study a particular author, this book is not for you. It may not even be for you if you wish to study Existentialism. But, if what you want is to get some feeling for what this Existentialism thing is all about, this collection is far superior to, for example, William Barrett's "Irrational Man", who, I believe makes a special mish mash of the 19th century precursors of Existentialism.
One example is with the writings of Dostoyevsky, who wrote very long, intricately plotted novels, but to find those passages which uniquely identify his perception of the existential condition of life, you could spend days. Here, in a very nice, concise selection, is exactly the passage you want, from "Notes from Underground". I would say the same about the other literary selections from Kafka, Rilke, Camus, and perhaps Sartre. Oddly, I would skip over the Nietzsche selections and read Nietzsche's complete books, especially "The Gay Science" and "Beyond Good and Evil". He wrote in aphorisms, but his arguments spanned several numbered paragraphs.
I suspect that reading snippets of Heidegger is a total waste of time, but I think Jaspers piece of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard is a nice piece for this collection. To those who complained about the binding and printing, I have no such problems with my latest edition.
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I've been familiar with this volume for about 17 years, since I became aware of philosophy in college. Like other books from back in the 1950s and '60s, this volume has survived as a cheap introduction to Existentialism. The fact that so many schools still assign this as a textbook is sad, because it's pretty much a mess of a volume for pedagogical purposes. I don't know how anyone could feel that they understand Nietzsche or Heidegger after jumping into these dense excerpts from Kaufmann's old translations. At least the entirety of a translation of Sartre's Existentialism is a Humanism is here, but I'd suggest just buying that on its own. At least this one doesn't do Beckett the disservice of sandwiching Godot into the mix, but where is Beauvoir? Not here.
It's about time we let students examine the works of these writers outside of these antiquated, U.S. in the 1950s, cold-war, Christian / atheist debate sets of paradigms.
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I'm not a deep thinker in any sense of the word and so was in way over my head when I had to read this for a class, but it truly is thought-provoking! I enjoyed it despite some very odd literary decisions! Recommend!
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If you want a book filled with new and exciting ideas about the reality you live in, this is not for you. This is a book filled with the collected works of some of the best minds in the field of existentialism including Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Rilke, Kafka, Ortega, Jaspers, Heidegger, Sartre, and Camus.
The power of this book is found in the chorus of voices which combine to create a sum which is greater than the individual parts. It flows almost seamlessly from one text to the next like the exposition of a great movie which precedes the thickening plot of your thought processes. These voices share the view that thinking begins with the human subject and is subject to mediation; the collection as a whole leaves you wondering what is objective reality and what is your reality.
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Like other readers who gave this anthology negative reviews, I was frustrated by the subjectivity guiding the selections and by the editing of many of the passages. I found a frequent disconnect between what I knew of the philosophers and what seemed to be in the passages. Having come to existentialism through literature, I was eager to explore it from the philosophers' point of view, but I honestly found myself searching in vain through many of the selections for something that I recognized as existentialist.
Another issue I have with this book is that the texts are given in chronological order. It seems to make more sense to start with an understanding of Sartre and then to move back to works that appear in retrospect to contain existentialist themes or ideas.
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164 of 173 people found the following review helpful
Looking for a textbook? A scholarly exegesis of Being and Nothingness? The final answers to all of life's questions? Then you've come to the wrong place. Looking for a thought-provoking anthology of existentialist (and quasi-existentialist) authors, which flows effortlessly from one section to the next, and brings a smile (or a furrowed brow) to all who read it? Then I can think of no better book. The selections in this book were chosen for their readability, not their weight, so academic philosophers may find this book lacking. But were it not for books like this, which enchant the layman and force him (or her) to examine primary sources, would there be any philosophy majors? From Camus' notion of a sustaining inward rebellion, to Sartre's brilliant reevaluation of ethics (prose in "Self-deception", poetry in "The Wall"), to the great battle over Christianity between Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, there is certainly something of vital importance to most people contained in these pages. As an individual's right is sovereign, I will not urge you to like this book, or even to read it - this, like all things, you must decide for yourself.
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This item: Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre, Revised and Expanded Edition
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