A powerful new anthology that redefines our understanding of existentialism and argues for its contemporary relevance
'Superb ...
I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Cafe
'We are thrown into the world at every moment, and committed within it'
In the aftermath of the Second World War, a group of intellectuals gathered to discuss urgent questions of existence, commitment, racism, colonialism and feminism. Their ideas would continue to shape debates throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This major new anthology gathers the key texts of existentialism, and their major intellectual influences, along with other works previously neglected in overviews and anthologies of the movement. Incorporating the writings of Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and Frantz Fanon, alongside selections from S ren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud and Martin Heidegger, it significantly expands and redefines our understanding of what existentialism means, and why it matters.
Edited with an Introduction by Jonathan Webber
By:
Various
Edited by:
Jonathan Webber
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 197mm,
Width: 129mm,
Spine: 22mm
Weight: 294g
ISBN: 9780241645413
ISBN 10: 0241645417
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 17 February 2026
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
General/trade
,
Undergraduate
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
What Existentialism Is and Why It Matters How To Read This Book 1. INSPIRATIONS Crop Rotation Søren Kierkegaard The Present Age Søren Kierkegaard The Joyous Science Friedrich Nietzsche A Short Account of Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud Dasein and Anxiety Martin Heidegger 2. BEING AND NOTHINGNESS Anguish, Freedom, and Values Jean-Paul Sartre Conducts of Bad Faith Jean-Paul Sartre The Look Jean-Paul Sartre Existential Psychoanalysis Jean-Paul Sartre 3. THE EXISTENTIALIST OFFENSIVE The End of the War Jean-Paul Sartre Existentialism and Popular Wisdom Simone de Beauvoir Portrait of the Anti-Semite Jean-Paul Sartre Literature and Metaphysics Simone de Beauvoir 4. THE SECOND SEX Femininity: The Trap Simone de Beauvoir Myths Simone de Beauvoir Woman’s Situation and Character Simone de Beauvoir Conclusion Simone de Beauvoir 5. COLONIALISM AND RACIALIZATION The Lived Experience of the Black Man Frantz Fanon The Black Man and Psychopathology Frantz Fanon From One China to Another Jean-Paul Sartre AFTERWORD ‘No, I’m not an existentialist’, Albert Camus Tells Us Jeanine Delpech Texts and Permissions
Jonathan Webber is Professor of Philosophy at Cardiff University. He is the author of Rethinking Existentialism (Oxford University Press, 2018) and The Existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre (Routledge, 2009), editor of Reading Sartre- on Phenomenology and Existentialism (Routledge, 2011), and translator of Sartre's book The Imaginary (Routledge, 2004). He has written on existentialism for public audiences at Aeon, New Statesman, and Times Literary Supplement. He is a trustee of the Mind Association and President of the UK Sartre Society.
Reviews for The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
'A superb selection of texts, both thorough and adventurous. I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety.' -- Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café
