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Existentialism -- First 1st Edition
With Selections from Kierkegaard, Turgener, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Hesse, Heidegger, Marcel, Jaspers, Kafka, Gide, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, de Beauvoir, Rieocer, Berdygev, Buber, Tillich, Pinter, Beckett, Mailer, Laing, Bellon Bach, Weiss, and Muller.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
Hardcover
First published February 1, 1974
38 people are currently reading
906 people want to read
About the author
Robert C. Solomon
123 books178 followersRobert C. Solomon (September 14, 1942 – January 2, 2007) was a professor of continental philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.
Early life
Solomon was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a lawyer, and his mother an artist. After earning a B.A. (1963) at the University of Pennsylvania, he moved to the University of Michigan to study medicine, switching to philosophy for an M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1967).
He held several teaching positions at such schools as Princeton University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Pittsburgh. From 1972 until his death, except for two years at the University of California at Riverside in the mid-1980s, he taught at University of Texas at Austin, serving as Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Business. He was a member of the University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Solomon was also a member of the inaugural class of Academic Advisors at the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics.
His interests were in 19th-century German philosophy--especially Hegel and Nietzsche--and 20th-century Continental philosophy--especially Sartre and phenomenology, as well as ethics and the philosophy of emotions. Solomon published more than 40 books on philosophy, and was also a published songwriter. He made a cameo appearance in Richard Linklater's film Waking Life (2001), where he discussed the continuing relevance of existentialism in a postmodern world. He developed a cognitivist theory of the emotions, according to which emotions, like beliefs, were susceptible to rational appraisal and revision. Solomon was particularly interested in the idea of "love," arguing against the notion that romantic love is an inherent state of being, and maintaining, instead, that it is instead a construct of Western culture, popularized and propagated in such a way that it has achieved the status of a universal in the eyes of many. Love for Solomon is not a universal, static quality, but an emotion, subject to the same vicissitudes as other emotions like anger or sadness.
Solomon received numerous teaching awards at the University of Texas at Austin, and was a frequent lecturer in the highly regarded Plan II Honors Program. Solomon was known for his lectures on Nietzsche and other Existentialist philosophers. Solomon described in one lecture a very personal experience he had while a medical student at the University of Michigan. He recounted how he stumbled as if by chance into a crowded lecture hall. He was rather unhappy in his medical studies at the time, and was perhaps seeking something different that day. He got precisely that. The professor, Frithjof Bergmann, was lecturing that day on something that Solomon had not yet been acquainted with. The professor spoke of how Nietzsche's idea asks the fundamental question: "If given the opportunity to live your life over and over again ad infinitum, forced to go through all of the pain and the grief of existence, would you be overcome with despair? Or would you fall to your knees in gratitude?"
Solomon died on January 2, 2007 at Zurich airport. His wife, philosopher Kathleen Higgins, with whom he co-authored several of his books, is Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin.
Early life
Solomon was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a lawyer, and his mother an artist. After earning a B.A. (1963) at the University of Pennsylvania, he moved to the University of Michigan to study medicine, switching to philosophy for an M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1967).
He held several teaching positions at such schools as Princeton University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Pittsburgh. From 1972 until his death, except for two years at the University of California at Riverside in the mid-1980s, he taught at University of Texas at Austin, serving as Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Business. He was a member of the University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Solomon was also a member of the inaugural class of Academic Advisors at the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics.
His interests were in 19th-century German philosophy--especially Hegel and Nietzsche--and 20th-century Continental philosophy--especially Sartre and phenomenology, as well as ethics and the philosophy of emotions. Solomon published more than 40 books on philosophy, and was also a published songwriter. He made a cameo appearance in Richard Linklater's film Waking Life (2001), where he discussed the continuing relevance of existentialism in a postmodern world. He developed a cognitivist theory of the emotions, according to which emotions, like beliefs, were susceptible to rational appraisal and revision. Solomon was particularly interested in the idea of "love," arguing against the notion that romantic love is an inherent state of being, and maintaining, instead, that it is instead a construct of Western culture, popularized and propagated in such a way that it has achieved the status of a universal in the eyes of many. Love for Solomon is not a universal, static quality, but an emotion, subject to the same vicissitudes as other emotions like anger or sadness.
Solomon received numerous teaching awards at the University of Texas at Austin, and was a frequent lecturer in the highly regarded Plan II Honors Program. Solomon was known for his lectures on Nietzsche and other Existentialist philosophers. Solomon described in one lecture a very personal experience he had while a medical student at the University of Michigan. He recounted how he stumbled as if by chance into a crowded lecture hall. He was rather unhappy in his medical studies at the time, and was perhaps seeking something different that day. He got precisely that. The professor, Frithjof Bergmann, was lecturing that day on something that Solomon had not yet been acquainted with. The professor spoke of how Nietzsche's idea asks the fundamental question: "If given the opportunity to live your life over and over again ad infinitum, forced to go through all of the pain and the grief of existence, would you be overcome with despair? Or would you fall to your knees in gratitude?"
Solomon died on January 2, 2007 at Zurich airport. His wife, philosopher Kathleen Higgins, with whom he co-authored several of his books, is Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 29, 2012
I really enjoyed this collection of excerpts from existentialist writings. I liked that it opened my eyes to the different kind of thinkers within this tradition: liked some, loathed some. It gathered from about 26 writers from Kierkegaard to Arthur Miller, and concentrated more heavily on the more well-known contributors like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Camus, and Sartre. I came to this book having read some from this philosophical emphasis, but I wasn’t disappointed in the selections which helped me to broaden my understanding of different expressions of the ideas as well as lesser known authors which have contributed to its progress (or lack there-of).
Some broadly assume that existentialism is an expression of egoism or solipsism that offers no value system, or ultimately leads down the path to a philosophical ‘catatonic immobility’. Not so. That is mostly a misunderstanding of the uninformed. It, in fact, has been developed as a system, or as ideological tools rather, to help one redefine and reform one’s values, and conceptualize truth and meaning in the face of the increasing dereliction and obsolescence of old meanings and ideas in each new age. It is not wholesale ‘relativism’, as some would like to think, but a grounded sense of conviction and purpose within a growing awareness, individually and globally, of the relative nature of people’s perception of reality. Subjectivity is the dominant focus of existentialism because it brings me first, then others, into the center of my concern; and freedom and responsibility of the individual become the core values.
I definitely come away from this wanting to read more of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Camus, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Jaspers, Hesse, Marcel, …and DEFINITELY Sartre above all the rest. Sartre has so many profound things to say, and I love his emphasis on human responsibility. Not sure I can stomach his Nausea, but we shall see, because it’s going on my reading list along with some of his others. I can’t get away from some of his words:
“What happens to me happens through me…Moreover everything which happens to me is mine.”
“To live [in any given situation] is to choose myself through it and to choose it through my choice of myself.”
“Everything which happens to us can be considered as a chance.”
Rubies.
I will say, however, that reading this expanded selection from different types of existentialist authors makes me a bit more cautious in labeling myself broadly and unreservedly as an ‘existentialist’. That label might be in need of some qualification depending on who is talking and who they are talking to.
The point of this book, and one of the reasons I’ll never read it again but benefited from it regardless, is that it was as good as it was bad. I was introduced to authors that I grew to love, but some that I was glad to be finished with once-and-for-all. The contrast was enlightening.
Some broadly assume that existentialism is an expression of egoism or solipsism that offers no value system, or ultimately leads down the path to a philosophical ‘catatonic immobility’. Not so. That is mostly a misunderstanding of the uninformed. It, in fact, has been developed as a system, or as ideological tools rather, to help one redefine and reform one’s values, and conceptualize truth and meaning in the face of the increasing dereliction and obsolescence of old meanings and ideas in each new age. It is not wholesale ‘relativism’, as some would like to think, but a grounded sense of conviction and purpose within a growing awareness, individually and globally, of the relative nature of people’s perception of reality. Subjectivity is the dominant focus of existentialism because it brings me first, then others, into the center of my concern; and freedom and responsibility of the individual become the core values.
I definitely come away from this wanting to read more of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Camus, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Jaspers, Hesse, Marcel, …and DEFINITELY Sartre above all the rest. Sartre has so many profound things to say, and I love his emphasis on human responsibility. Not sure I can stomach his Nausea, but we shall see, because it’s going on my reading list along with some of his others. I can’t get away from some of his words:
“What happens to me happens through me…Moreover everything which happens to me is mine.”
“To live [in any given situation] is to choose myself through it and to choose it through my choice of myself.”
“Everything which happens to us can be considered as a chance.”
Rubies.
I will say, however, that reading this expanded selection from different types of existentialist authors makes me a bit more cautious in labeling myself broadly and unreservedly as an ‘existentialist’. That label might be in need of some qualification depending on who is talking and who they are talking to.
The point of this book, and one of the reasons I’ll never read it again but benefited from it regardless, is that it was as good as it was bad. I was introduced to authors that I grew to love, but some that I was glad to be finished with once-and-for-all. The contrast was enlightening.
April 7, 2026
Read this for a philosophy class, and I love both the class and this book. It is mostly a composition of different works from various philosophers, and I enjoyed most of them. Some of them are also incredibly intense, so it was helpful to have a professor break down the readings, especially for Heidegger.
The overarching themes of existentialism are that individuals must define themselves (whether through individuality or a relationship with God), confront their freedom, and take responsibility for their choices, which often results in anxiety and anguish. I agree with most of these ideas, but I tend to sympathize more with the atheist philosophers, like Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, who posit that there is no inherent meaning to existence. I immensely enjoyed both of their readings, and I'll paste some specific quotes below.
Nietzsche's The Gay Science and his exclamation "God is dead," I thought was particularly compelling. He essentially argues that the belief in God grounded the world in meaning, but in an era where people can no longer rationally believe in God, God is no longer a good source of meaning and morality. Obviously quite controversial, but I enjoyed reading that excerpt. I also agree with his outlook on life, that there is no meaning so each person should create their own values and create a life that they would happily live in "eternal recurrence".
I also loved the Jean-Paul Sartre section. The part from Nausea where a man in the park describes the absurdity of the roots of a tree, and then the park, and then himself, is quite profound and beautiful. Part of his philosophy also contrasts Plato's idea of perfect forms (everything has a unique true essence) with his idea that nothing, including humans, has a fixed essence. He calls people superfluous but free to choose what they do and don't want to be through his idea of "Nothingness" which I thought was interesting.
Also, Simone de Beauvoir has a small section in this book, and although a lot of her writing is different from that of the other philosophers in this book, I thought her comments about women and femininity were unique. She talks about how we take "man" as both the positive and the neutral, both in writing and in life, and that her differences from man define the concept of a woman. I quote one such section below.
Favorite Parts:
from Will to Power - Nietzsche
from Gay Science - Nietzsche
from Nauseas - Sartre
I love this whole section so much and I am not about to type 4 pages worth of writing so I am going to have to jump around a bit.
from The Second Sex - Beauvoir
The overarching themes of existentialism are that individuals must define themselves (whether through individuality or a relationship with God), confront their freedom, and take responsibility for their choices, which often results in anxiety and anguish. I agree with most of these ideas, but I tend to sympathize more with the atheist philosophers, like Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, who posit that there is no inherent meaning to existence. I immensely enjoyed both of their readings, and I'll paste some specific quotes below.
Nietzsche's The Gay Science and his exclamation "God is dead," I thought was particularly compelling. He essentially argues that the belief in God grounded the world in meaning, but in an era where people can no longer rationally believe in God, God is no longer a good source of meaning and morality. Obviously quite controversial, but I enjoyed reading that excerpt. I also agree with his outlook on life, that there is no meaning so each person should create their own values and create a life that they would happily live in "eternal recurrence".
I also loved the Jean-Paul Sartre section. The part from Nausea where a man in the park describes the absurdity of the roots of a tree, and then the park, and then himself, is quite profound and beautiful. Part of his philosophy also contrasts Plato's idea of perfect forms (everything has a unique true essence) with his idea that nothing, including humans, has a fixed essence. He calls people superfluous but free to choose what they do and don't want to be through his idea of "Nothingness" which I thought was interesting.
Also, Simone de Beauvoir has a small section in this book, and although a lot of her writing is different from that of the other philosophers in this book, I thought her comments about women and femininity were unique. She talks about how we take "man" as both the positive and the neutral, both in writing and in life, and that her differences from man define the concept of a woman. I quote one such section below.
Favorite Parts:
from Will to Power - Nietzsche
"The law of conservation of energy demands eternal recurrence... If the world may be thought of as a certain definite quantity of force and as a certain definite number of centers of force - and every other representation remains indefinite and therefore useless - it follows that, in the great dice game of existence, it must pass through a combination calculable number of combinations. In infinite time, every possible combination would at some itme or another be realized; more: it would be realized and infinite number of times."
from Gay Science - Nietzsche
"How, if some day or night a demon were to sneak after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you, 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more and there will be nothing new in it...' Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or did you once experience a tremendous moment when you would have answered him, 'You are god, and never have I heard anything more godly.'"
from Nauseas - Sartre
I love this whole section so much and I am not about to type 4 pages worth of writing so I am going to have to jump around a bit.
"The roots of the chestnut tree were sunk in the ground just under my bench. I couldn't remember it was a root any more. The words had vanished and with them the significance of things, their methods of use, and the feeble points of reference which men have traced on their surface. I was sitting, stooping forward, head bowed, alone in front of this black, knotty mass, entirely beastly, which frightened me... In the way: it was the only relationship I could establish between these trees, these gates, these stones... I, too, was in the way... I dreamed vaguely of killing myself to wipe out at least one of these superfluous lives. But even my death would have been in the way. In the way, my corpse, my blood on these stones, between these plants, at the back of this smiling garden. And the decomposed flesh would have been in the way in the earth which would receive my bones, at last, cleaned, stripped, peeled, proper and clean as teeth, it would have been in the way: I was in the way for eternity... This moment was extraordinary. I was there, motionless and icy, plunged in a horrible ecstasy. But something fresh had just appeared in the very heart of this ecstasy; I understood Nausea, I possessed it... one cannot define existence as necessity. To exist is simply to be there; those who exist let themselves be encountered, but you can never deduce anything from them... All is free, this park, this city, and myself. When you realize that, it turns your heart upside down and everything begins to float... no one has any rights; they are entirely free, like other men, they cannot succeed in not feeling superfluous. An in themselves, secretly, they are superfluous, that is to say, amorphous, vague, and sad."
from The Second Sex - Beauvoir
"The terms masculine and feminine are used symmetrically only as a matter of form, as on legal papers. In actuality, the relation of the two sexes is not quite like that of two electric poles, for man represents both the positive and the neutral, as is indicated by the common use of man to designate human beings in general: whereas woman represents only the negative, defined by the limiting criteria, without reciprocity... There is an absolute human type, the masculine. Woman has ovaries, a uterus; these peculiarities imprison her in her subjectivity, circumscribe her within the limits of her own nature... He thinks of his body as a direct and normal connection with the world, which he believes he apprehends objectively, whereas he regards the body of woman as a hindrance, a prison, weighed down by everything peculiar to it... Thus humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being... He is the Subject, he is the Absolute - she is the other."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 20, 2007
This was an optional reader for a class that I took with the late Robert Solomon. All royalties went to the keg fund for a party that he threw for his students. It's a tiny little book, but it has breadth; besides the obvious and indispensable inclusions, like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Kafka, Sartre, and Camus, there are selections from Merleau-Ponty, Buber, Pinter, Beckett, and even Barth. Oh yeah -- if you like Hesse, then get your motor running, because he's in here, too.
Among the major selections is a short extract from Martin Heidegger's Being and Time. Whenever I think that it might be a good idea to attend grad school, I'm going to reflect on the time I spent trying to read that, then go back to reading comic books.
Among the major selections is a short extract from Martin Heidegger's Being and Time. Whenever I think that it might be a good idea to attend grad school, I'm going to reflect on the time I spent trying to read that, then go back to reading comic books.
April 19, 2024
Read for philosophy course - Solomon was really great at breaking down the more complex phenomenology in Heidegger , the excerpts were always well chosen I loved Merleau-Ponty and Sartre’s ideas about freedom and determined negation too as well as human responsibility - really interesting and eye opening book
May 12, 2009
This book has introduced me to Existentialism and now I really want to learn more. I have enjoyed the thoughts posed about individualism, that we are choosers, "bad faith", seeing ourselves in the eyes of the other. I have come to many conclusions about how people are objectifying one another. It has expanded my understanding about love and life. I have decided to become more individualistic in my religious practices as well as my social interactions. I am going to read more existentialism this summer and report back!
February 20, 2016
an anthology, suitable for an undergraduate course on what is one of the worst philosophical schools ever.
July 22, 2017
Great selection on existentialism. I studied this book in college, and went back and re read it a few years ago. I still find existentialism fascinating and recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more.
June 23, 2016
"A book not recommended for beginners"
Having taken an interest in existentialism and having read a few books on the topic, I thought I could not miss this compilation with Robert C. Solomon, a prolific author in philosophy books and a professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, as the author. The introduction was a surprise that it read like a sarcastic and hostile attack to existentialism. I imagined that it would also appear cryptic to readers that have yet read of the philosophers/writers in existentialism. Nevertheless, rather as an intro, but as an afterward, it would be thought-provoking and valuable to people who plan to give existentialism unquestioned support, which is the wrong way to do philosophy to start with. This is a book for reference, rather than for beginners to learn about existentialism.
Having taken an interest in existentialism and having read a few books on the topic, I thought I could not miss this compilation with Robert C. Solomon, a prolific author in philosophy books and a professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, as the author. The introduction was a surprise that it read like a sarcastic and hostile attack to existentialism. I imagined that it would also appear cryptic to readers that have yet read of the philosophers/writers in existentialism. Nevertheless, rather as an intro, but as an afterward, it would be thought-provoking and valuable to people who plan to give existentialism unquestioned support, which is the wrong way to do philosophy to start with. This is a book for reference, rather than for beginners to learn about existentialism.
January 4, 2010
This book is badass! The introductions to the excerpts in this existential philosophy primer are what really make book worthwhile. After I read this, I got really excited because I knew that Solomon was the head of the Philosophy Dept. at UT. I was really stoked to sit in on some classes. However, I then found out that he died two years ago. Bummer.
April 16, 2011
To be fair, my love for this book is based on my love for Dr. Solomon's Existentialism class that I took in college. It's not necessarily a weekend read, especially the Heidegger excerpts. I actually would recommend checking out the audio for his lectures if you are not used to reading philisophical texts.
March 22, 2016
I thought it was a good introduction to existentialism...but I'm no judge. Judging by Solomon's credentials though, he seems to know what he's doing; although I'm not a huge fan of anthologies. It's like someone's judging what's essential versus what isn't on these highly complex thinkers. Not critical though. Still a great introduction.
June 3, 2013
A selection of representative works from existentialism's philosophers, both the renowned (Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre, etc) and the less well-known (Karl Jaspers, de Unamuno, etc). May be a bit daunting for the first-time reader introduced to existentialism. Good breadth, though.
July 6, 2007
Nice selection.
June 23, 2012
Very well written and articulate conversations about existentialism.
September 8, 2012
Trapped on a desert Island this small book would provide a library of existentialist material , nicely organized and the introduction by Solomon is great
August 1, 2009
Good intro to the subject by the late Bob Solomon.
April 12, 2017
A fine collection of existential thought. I have read better collections, but you could call this the essential existentialist collection, best handled with an already present awareness of what existentialism is and the authors' positions. I felt like some things were left out that didn't need to be. I also disagree with his premise in the introduction, that there's no way to define existentialism. He calls it expression, and it is, but it's a form or type with certain facets, common threads that constitute the whole. Regardless, it's a good overview.
It's a life philosophy entailing:
1. We're thrown into this world, we didn't choose to exist, nor did we choose to be free. And yet it's thrust on us along with related consequences to the actions, this abrupt and lonely freedom haunts and despairs us with angst. You do your own actions, but once you do them they're not yours (i.e. you can't take them back) yet you're responsible for them. This freedom ends in death, which is unavoidable.
2. The universe is indifferent to us, even absurd. Nihilism shows us that the world is meaningless and empty of value. Also, death.
3. The follow up to that meaninglessness, is that the existentialist adds meaning. Existence precedes essence. We're not born with an identity or purpose, but we create it, individually, through our choices. We must overcome the herd mentality, the crowd, and pioneer our own lives passionately.
4. There's some more as it's noteworthy the subjectivity of existentialism. It's about individual human experiences around existence, building upon the preceding points. It has a theist and atheist branch, though the latter is most popular.
Quotes from introduction:
"Every act and every attitude must be considered a choice. yet the existential attitude itself is apparently not chosen. One finds oneself in it."
"A philosophical statement, once made, is 'in the world,' free of its author, open to the public, a piece to be interpreted; it becomes universal."
"But as the center, the one who endows all else with meaning, that is an attitude we recognize easily. Yet at the same instant we recognize ourselves as pelted by meanings, 'sown on our path as thousands of little demands, like the signs which order us to keep off the grass.'"
"In self-consciousness one holds all given values suspect. How much of reason might be no more than our reason, the anonymous consensus of 'the public'? How many of our values might be no more than relics of dead authority or products of our weaknesses, our fears of isolation, failure, or meaninglessness? How many of our values are prejudices, how much reason mere rationalization?"
It's a life philosophy entailing:
1. We're thrown into this world, we didn't choose to exist, nor did we choose to be free. And yet it's thrust on us along with related consequences to the actions, this abrupt and lonely freedom haunts and despairs us with angst. You do your own actions, but once you do them they're not yours (i.e. you can't take them back) yet you're responsible for them. This freedom ends in death, which is unavoidable.
2. The universe is indifferent to us, even absurd. Nihilism shows us that the world is meaningless and empty of value. Also, death.
3. The follow up to that meaninglessness, is that the existentialist adds meaning. Existence precedes essence. We're not born with an identity or purpose, but we create it, individually, through our choices. We must overcome the herd mentality, the crowd, and pioneer our own lives passionately.
4. There's some more as it's noteworthy the subjectivity of existentialism. It's about individual human experiences around existence, building upon the preceding points. It has a theist and atheist branch, though the latter is most popular.
Quotes from introduction:
"Every act and every attitude must be considered a choice. yet the existential attitude itself is apparently not chosen. One finds oneself in it."
"A philosophical statement, once made, is 'in the world,' free of its author, open to the public, a piece to be interpreted; it becomes universal."
"But as the center, the one who endows all else with meaning, that is an attitude we recognize easily. Yet at the same instant we recognize ourselves as pelted by meanings, 'sown on our path as thousands of little demands, like the signs which order us to keep off the grass.'"
"In self-consciousness one holds all given values suspect. How much of reason might be no more than our reason, the anonymous consensus of 'the public'? How many of our values might be no more than relics of dead authority or products of our weaknesses, our fears of isolation, failure, or meaninglessness? How many of our values are prejudices, how much reason mere rationalization?"
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews