Matthew Coniam on Colin Wilson. Colin Wilson, who is seventy this year, is a name familiar to many as a popular writer on a bewildering variety of topics: crime and deviancy, paranormalism, archaeology and alien abduction to name just a few that have commanded his attention most recently. Older readers may remember him as the …
More than any other recent philosophical movement, the existentialists communicated their ideas through plays, novels and short stories. Peter Rickman asks: why did existentialism resort to literary expression? Jean-Paul Sartre was a professional philosopher who taught the subject and wrote substantial works on it. However he also wrote, and is widely known for, novels, short …
Kile Jones argues that atheistic existentialism is more compelling than religious existentialism. Existentialism, as I understand it, is primarily a philosophy of tragedy. It often speaks of tragedy as bound up with existence – that you cannot have one without the other. Tragedy Before the rise of German, and in turn French, existentialism, tragedy was …
Alex Holzman asks what a hero is, and if Camus’ infamous character qualifies. Heroics lie near the heart of both literary and historical culture. Something about the ‘greatness’ of heroes lends context to and brings to vivid life the events in which they took part and often come to represent. They are anchors in the …
Anja Steinbauer on Simone de Beauvoir’s Ethics of Ambiguity. “My life is my work,” Simone de Beauvoir once said. Spoken like a true Existentialist: to her, life and thought were inextricably linked; we are what we do. Existentialism is a philosophy that outlines the conditions of human existence but rejects any conception of human nature; …
Greg Stone presents the evidence. When Johnny Depp raises a wry eyebrow on screen, it’s an ‘existential performance’. When Donald Rumsfeld says there are ‘unknown unknowns’, they call it ‘existential poetry’. Though many politicians and entertainers welcome the label, Albert Camus certainly did not. Even so, many people, even in academic publications, have inaccurately identified …
Stuart Greenstreet chooses to tell us how to become authentically existentialist. It took almost a century of thought before existentialism came to fruition as a popular movement – almost a craze – in post-war France in the nineteen-forties and fifties. This was the time of its greatest influence, not only on philosophy but also on …
Terri Murray argues that ijtihad and critical debate are essential in a liberal, multicultural society. Pluralist multiculturalism and identity politics appear to be creating a crisis of liberal values. Or perhaps I’m just the last person to realise that liberal values went out of fashion over a decade ago. Back then I was too busy …
If you eat meat, are you personally to blame for the evils of factory farming? Richard Corry considers the consequences. Bob is a good and thoughtful person. He is concerned with the welfare of others, he gives to charity, and he takes an interest in local politics. Bob also enjoys a good steak. One day, …
Nigel Warburton gives a brief introduction to this classic text. Existentialism and Humanism is probably the most widely read of all Sartre’s philosophical writings, and it is certainly one of his more accessible pieces; yet surprisingly little has been written about it. One explanation for this may be that Sartre himself came to regret the …
A student’s guide to Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism and Humanism Read More »