The Dark Moment an excerpt from The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.
MSN Encarta Encyclopedia: Entry on 'Existentialism'.
'Existentialism, philosophical movement or tendency, emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice, that influenced many diverse writers in the 19th and 20th centuries.'
The Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus on the absurd, suicide and happiness.
Austin Fowler's notes on The Myth of Sisyphus.
Existentialism lecture from Boston University
'Existentialism can be thought of as the twentieth-century analogue of nineteenth-century romanticism. The two movements have in common the demand that the whole fabric of life be recognized and taken into account in our thinking and acting. As such they express a form of resistance to reductionist analyses of life and its meaning for human beings. But there are also significant differences. Existentialism is typically focused on individual human lives and the poignant inevitability of suffering and choice for each individual whereas romanticism tended to be more oriented to the whole of nature and saw human beings as a part of that wider picture. Furthermore, romanticism flourished before the wars and genocides of the twentieth century whereas existentialism is born amid those horrors.'
What is Existentialism? by Bob Corbett, 1985
'What is existentialism? I've been asked that a thousand times, have read most intro type books on the field, have spent much of my teaching life "doing" Existentialism, yet cannot give a coherent and relatively short definition. It's sort of a spirit or aura of how one responds to human existence, much easier to characterize (rather than define) in negative terms -- what Existentialism is NOT that philosophy generally is -- than in positive terms of a definition ...'
Existentialism
Existentialism defined. 6 basic themes of Existentialism: Man is conscious subject, Anxiety, Absurdity, Nothingness, Death, Alienation.
Existentialism lecture by Daniel Holbrook at Washington State University
'Most of what I have to say is based on Jean-Paul Sartre's essay "Existentialism is a Humanism." Existentialism is a little hard to explain, since it seems to be based on several contradictory and, sometimes, wildly implausible principles, so please bear with me ...'
About Existentialism
About Existentialism - existentialist philosophy, philosophers, groups and journals. By Austin Cline. 'Existential philosophy is more a trend or attitude than it is coherent school or movement because it is intensely subjective. As a result, existentialist thinkers tend to vary greatly in their concerns and ultimate conclusions. In general, existentialism emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe while denying any special or unique essence that humans might have.'
Existentialism: A Survey and Assessment
By the Biblical Research Institute (!)
Excerpt: 'Existentialism does appear to stimulate spiritual curiosity and concern among college students, but it has to be admittedly that a large percentage of them arrive at confusing arguments against the validity and importance of the teachings of the Christian church. To them there ceases to be a clear, convincing structure of objective truth expressed by a "Thus saith the Lord." The over-emphasis on relationships and processes tends to destroy a conviction that absolute truth exists for the purpose of man's redemption.'
Essays on Existentialism by Tanweer Akram
'Existentialism is the title of the set of philosophical ideals that emphasizes the existence of the human being, the lack of meaning and purpose in life, and the solitude of human existence. Existentialism maintains existence precedes essence: This implies that the human being has no essence, no essential self, and is no more that what he is. He is only the sum of life is so far he has created and achieved for himself. Existentialism acquires its name from insisting that existence precedes essence ...'
Existentialism: A Primer
"Existentialism attempts to describe our desire to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe.
Unfortunately, life might be without inherent meaning (existential atheists) or it might be without a meaning we can understand (existential theists). Either way, the human desires for logic and immortality are futile. We are forced to define our own meanings, knowing they might be temporary. In this existence...
The Individual Defines Everything."
Overview, de Beauvoir, Camus, Dostoevsky, Hegel, Heidegger, Husserl, Jaspers, Kafka, Kierkegaard, Merleau-Ponty, Nietzsche, Sartre, Theologians, Psychology, ...And Beyond.
'An Existential Philosopher's Museum' by James Park
Becoming More Authentic: The Positive Side of Existentialism, Looking for the Meaning of Life, Existential Anxiety: Angst.
Waiting for Godot, Essay on Waiting for Godot by Michael Sinclair, Krapp's Last Tape, Endgame, Eh Joe, A Piece of Monologue, Breath, Fizzle 3 and Fizzle 4, Lessness, Stirrings Still
Excellent Samuel Beckett website at modernworld.com
An Intercourse with Ghosts A Collection of Franz Kafka's work.
Interview with Franz Kakfa by Samuel Beckett.
A Fault on the Line (explicit)
An interview with Irvine Welsh by Jenifer Berman.
Insomnia by Virgilio Pinera. Translated from the Spanish by Alberto Manguel.