The Bloomsbury Companion to Existentialism

Description

The Bloomsbury Companion to Existentialism is the definitive guide to this key area of modern European philosophy. Now available in paperback, the book covers the fundamental questions asked by existentialism, providing valuable guidance for students and researchers to some of the many important and enduring contributions of existentialist thinkers. Chapters from an international team of experts explore existentialism's relationship to philosophical method; ontology; politics; psychoanalysis; ethics; religion; literature; emotion; feminism and sexuality; emotions; authenticity and the self; its significance in Latin American culture; and its contribution to the development of post-structuralism and cognitive science. In addition, five short chapters summarize the status of canonical figures Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and de Beauvoir, delineating the historical approach to their work, while pointing to new directions contemporary research is now taking. Featuring a series of indispensable research tools such as an A to Z glossary, a timeline of key events, texts and thinkers in existentialism, a list of resources, and an annotated guide to further reading, this Companion is an essential resource to help the new reader navigate through the heart of Existentialism and modern European philosophy.

Jack Reynolds is Chair of Philosophy at Deakin University, Australia. He has written four books: Chronopathologies: The Politics of Time in Deleuze, Derrida, Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology (2012), Analytic Versus Continental: Arguments on the Methods and Value of Philosophy (2010, with James Chase), Merleau-Ponty and Derrida: Intertwining Embodiment and Alterity (2004), and Understanding Existentialism (2006). He has also co-edited five collections: Sartre: Key Concepts (2013), Postanalytic and Metacontinental: Crossing Philosophical Divides (2010), Merleau-Ponty: Key Concepts (2008) and Understanding Derrida (Continuum 2004). Felicity Joseph teaches philosophy at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Ashley Woodward is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Dundee, UK. He is a founding member of The Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy, and an editor of Parrhesia: A Journal of Critical Philosophy. He is author of Understanding Nietzscheanism (2011), Nihilism in Postmodernity: Lyotard, Baudrillard, Vattimo (2010), editor of Interpreting Nietzsche (2011) and co-editor of Sensorium: Aesthetics, Art, Life (2007) and Gilbert Simondon: Being and Technology (2012).

An exceptionally fruitful addition to the Continuum Companions, this volume on Existentialism gathers together an impressive range of scholars on a wide variety of research areas ranging through the philosophical, the psychoanalytic, the historical, the religious, and the literary to contemporary cognitive science and politics. Highly recommended for students and academics alike. -- Christina Howells, Professor of French, University of Oxford, UK ...this book is a clear achievement and stands out as a key reference and guide for all with an interest in existentialism as a whole or in individual existentialist thinkers. Its depth is encyclopaedic and impressive and its perspective is all at once retrospective, current and forward-looking. -- Sartre Studies International This is a welcome addition to the set of philosophy "companion" books dominated by Oxford, Cambridge, and Wiley-Blackwell. Besides the main section by contemporary scholars on current research and issues in existentialism, the editors provide sections on new directions in existentialism and recent developments in scholarship on Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir. Also included are a glossary of terms; a chronology of key events in the history of existentialism; research resources including websites, institutions, journals and societies; and an annotated guide to further readings for each of the main existential philosophers. These features add scope and depth that set this book apart from others written for novices. Readers get a comprehensive introduction to existentialism. * CHOICE Magazine * This volume is an important addition to research on existentialism and it provides a comprehensive overview of its history, its impact, and the likely areas for its continuing influence. It is a very useful collection for researchers in existentialism, as well as for undergraduate students. -- Simon Lumsden, University of New South Wales, Australia * Australasian Journal of Philosophy * The spirit of this Companion is that of advocate, teacher and muse, to those drawn to existentialism but unable to fully formulate the continuing relevance and importance of this school of thought. Pierre Hadot's What is Ancient Philosophy? strove to make ancient philosophy a wise and fruitful field around which to build a career and life; so, too, this Companion makes the case for the wisdom of existentialism. -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews