Robert C. Solomon begins this book with a fine eleven page essay on existentialism. Here are a few excerpts:
"It is a commonly accepted half-truth that existentialism is a revolt against traditional Western rationalistic philosophy. It is also a demonstrable half-truth that existentialist philosophy is very much a continuation and logical expansion of themes and problems in Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Husserl. Existentialism is not simply a philosophy or philosophical revolt. Existentialist philosophy is an explicit conceptual manifestation of the existential attitude--a spirit of `the present age.' It is a philosophical realization of self-conscious living in a `broken world' (Marcel), an `ambiguous world' (de Beauvoir), a `dislocated world' (Merleau-Ponty)..."
"So long as we think of philosophy as a set of (hopefully) true propositions, we will continue to be tempted by notions that philosophy can be a `science,' that there is a correct way of doing philosophy, that philosophical judgement or body of judgement can be true. If instead we allow ourselves to think of philosophy as expression, these rigid demands seem pointless or vulgar."
Some might consider it twinkish to read through a book of excerpts, but had there not been such a text, I don't think I would have been exposed to many of the writers that are featured. My appreciation and thanks goes to Robert C. Solomon.
