Existentialism For Dummies by Christopher Panza (PDF)

Description

Have you ever wondered what the phrase “God is dead” means? You’ll find out in Existentialism For Dummies, a handy guide to Nietzsche, Sartre, and Kierkegaard’s favorite philosophy. See how existentialist ideas have influenced everything from film and literature to world events and discover whether or not existentialism is still relevant today. You’ll find an introduction to existentialism and understand how it fits into the history of philosophy. This insightful guide will expose you to existentialism’s ideas about the absurdity of life and the ways that existentialism guides politics, solidarity, and respect for others. There’s even a section on religious existentialism. You’ll be able to reviewkey existential themes and writings. Find out how to:Trace the influence of existentialismDistinguish each philosopher’s specific ideasExplain what it means to say that “God is dead”See culture through an existentialist lensUnderstand the existentialist notion of time, finitude, and deathNavigate the absurdity of lifeMaster the art of individualityComplete with lists of the ten greatest existential films, ten great existential aphorisms, and ten common misconceptions about existentialism, ExistentialismFor Dummies is your one-stop guide to a very influential school of thought.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From the Inside Flap Explore key existential themes and writingsYour friendly guide to finding meaning in a meaningless worldIs God “dead”? If we are alone, how should we act? These are key questions posed by existentialism. This unintimidating guide clearly explains the concepts of this philosophical movement in plain English. You’ll meet the thinkers who helped it evolve — Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus — and see how existentialist ideas have influenced everything from film and literature to world events. Explanations in plain English”Get in, get out” informationIcons and other navigational aidsOnline cheat sheetTop ten listsA dash of humor and fun From the Back Cover Explore key existential themes and writingsYour friendly guide to finding meaning in a meaningless worldIs God “dead”? If we are alone, how should we act? These are key questions posed by existentialism. This unintimidating guide clearly explains the concepts of this philosophical movement in plain English. You’ll meet the thinkers who helped it evolve — Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus — and see how existentialist ideas have influenced everything from film and literature to world events. Explanations in plain English”Get in, get out” informationIcons and other navigational aidsOnline cheat sheetTop ten listsA dash of humor and fun About the Author Christopher Panza, PhD, is an associate professor of philosophy at Drury University in Springfield, MO. He teaches courses on existentialism, ethics, and freewill, has published articles on teaching philosophy and is an avid weekend baker. Gregory Gale, MA, is an adjunct professor of philosophy in Las Vegas. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I have had a decades long fascination with existentialism going back to the 1970s and picked up this book out of general interest. I thought that the initial 100 or so pages were excellent, informative, and poignant. But then the book went off the rails when the authors turned to the main tenets of various existentialist’s individual philosophies. The presentations are certainly comprehensive and detailed, but are so dense and obscure that they added nothing to my understanding of the topic. The minutiae of Heidegger’s philosophy receives much more coverage than necessary and the points made are difficult to make sense of. I stopped reading half way through the 10th chapter devoted to Kierkegaard because the coverage became even less comprehensible. This book would have been excellent had the dense minutiae of the various philosopher’s thinking been edited, similar to how concisely John-Paul Sartre’s philosophy was presented. Although part of the “Dummies” series, far too much extraneous information is included in the middle chapters but I rate the book three stars on the depth of the authors’ research and their desire to be comprehensive.

⭐Existentialism refers to a school of philosophical thought that was mainly popular among European thinkers in the twentieth century. It mainly focuses on the individual’s role in the world and the concept of the “absurdity” or inherent meaninglessness of life.Recently, I got a cheap, used copy of a work by Jean-Paul Sartre, but I, with no real background in philosophy, quickly gave up on it when I had trouble understanding it. Instead, I turned to Existentialism for Dummies for an introduction to the subject and was greatly pleased.This book gives an overall look at existentialist concepts. It uses the ideas primarily from five philosophers: Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus. For example, the book seeks to explain just what Nietzsche meant when he declared that “God is dead.” It also explains one of the central concepts of existentialism: the absurdity of life. Existentialism contends that life is basically meaningless and people are free to create their own meaning in life. This is also related to the idea that a person should strive to live authentically instead of relying on others to find meaning.All in all, this book was a good introduction to existentialism for the layman. I would recommend this to those looking for an introduction to the topic.

⭐I took two philosophy courses as an undergraduate. The “Logic” course was good but the instructor was nutty. In the second course the full professor was nutty and so were all seven or eight of the students. That was the end of philosophy for me for fifty years, i.e. there seemed to be a strong positive correlation between philosophy and nutty people. Then I happened to watch a raunchy pre-code Barbara Stanwyck movie “Babyface” and one character made reference to Nietzsche. My interest was rekindled. I bought Panza’s book.Panza and his co-author are able to take the ramblings of many philosophers and actually make sense of, in this case, existentialism. Starting with the “God is dead” statement they explain simply that it means that science has destroyed the order in our civilization that the Church gave us. We must find something else. From here they go on to explain that reality can’t be seen or understood because of our moods, they interpret much of the world as we see it. Next they go on to anxiety, yeah I suffer from anxiety as we all do. What’s that lyric: tired of livin’ but scared of dyin’?This leads us to the need to find some meaning in life. Well I won’t go on and beat a dead horse. Just let me say the book is a fun read; yes, they are a bit humorous, and they explain this arcane bit of philosophy quite well. So am I an existentialist? Probably, just hope I don’t turn nutty. Buy the book.

⭐The series and the name do not go together, but for tough subjects to understand, this series is one of the best. There are sections that one can skip entirely and not hurt the reader. I have had several philosophy courses and even a Media Criticism course where the subject and definition of Post Modernism were discussed. To this day I cannot give a good explanation of what Post Modernism is, however there is a diagram of it in this book which helps. The sections of Nietzsche and Sartre are the ones to be covered and highlighted. I always looked for a good label to describe me and atheist always fell short of what I wanted to define me. Existentialist is a great label to describe me and now with the help of this book I can tell people what an existentialist is and believes. Overall good book for a tricky subject. It is not the only book to read, but a great place to start for anyone wanting to understand something that is difficult even when in a college setting.

⭐I just started reading this book but I am very impressed by the down to earth explanation on the topic. I think this book is a good starting point for those seeking a general understanding of existentialism before getting down to more complicated intellectual understanding of the topic from the originators or those viewed as significant contributers of the philosophy. I’m going to give it 4 stars only because I have not finished the complete text but so far so good, I am totally interested in the topic mostly because of the down to earth interpretation that includes those of us not intellectually capable of understanding this type of text in its original complicated jargon.

⭐Would definitely recommend as a beginner wanting to learn about existentialism. Like the style of the For Dummies books and enjoy the humour. Received promptly.

⭐A must for anyone interested in the topic of existentialism, it’s easy to read, offers suggestions for future reading. Great buy!

⭐great source for any philosophy beginner, definitely recommend

⭐Good book explaining Existentialism as clearly as possible and providing examples of movies and stories that explore the themes espoused by existentialists.

⭐A good read and a great starter guide.

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