On Being and Becoming
An Existentialist Approach to Life
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- 20,99 €
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- 20,99 €
Publisher Description
While existentialism has long been associated with Parisian Left Bank philosophers sipping cocktails in smoke-filled caf?s, or with a brooding, angst-filled outlook on life, Gosetti-Ferencei shows how vital and heterogeneous the movement really was.
In this concise, accessible book, Gosetti-Ferencei offers a new vision of existentialism. As she lucidly demonstrates, existentialism is a rich and diverse philosophy that encourages meaningful engagement with the world around us, offering a host of fascinating concepts that pertain to life as we experience it. The movement was as heterogeneous as it is now misunderstood, influenced by jazz music, involving diverse thinkers from around the world, challenging received ideas about the meaning of human existence. Part of the difficulty in defining existentialism is that it was never a unified philosophy, but came to identify a set of shared concerns about the meaning and possibility of human freedom, as it may be expressed in authentic choices, actions, and projects. Existentialists all explored how, in the absence of traditional reassurances about the meaning of life, we may transcend our present circumstances, and give our situation new meaning. With existentialism, concrete, lived experience of the single individual emerged from the shadow of abstract systems and long-defended traditions, and became subject-matter in its own right for philosophical inquiry. Far from solipsistic, Gosetti-Ferencei shows that existentialist attention to the human self can be intertwined with ways of conceiving the world, our being with others, the earth, and the encompassing concept of being.
Fully appreciating what existentialism has to offer requires recognizing the rich diversity of its prospects, which involve not only anxiety, absurdity, awareness of death and the loss of religious meaning, but also hope, the striving for happiness, and a sense of the transcendent. On Being and Becoming unpacks this philosophical movement's insights, and reveals how its core ideas promote creative responses to the question of life's meaning.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gosetti-Ferencei (The Life of the Imagination), a philosophy professor at Johns Hopkins University, delivers a sharp, rewarding history of existentialist philosophy. She is keen to debunk the image many readers may have of existentialism: that of post-WWII Parisian caf s, black turtlenecks, and a kind of retreat from engagement with daily life. Instead, she argues, the philosophy encourages energetic, passionate engagement with daily life while at the same time acknowledging that the world can often be a little absurd. Gosetti-Ferencei starts with an excellent prologue that introduces existentialism as a philosophy that "swept the world of popular culture in the post-war period like no other philosophy in modern memory" thanks to its focus on "freedom, authenticity, and responsibility for our actions and values" based on subjective truth and the "capacity to evolve in the light of possibilities." She then gives the reader a brief history of existentialism, comparing it to other major philosophies such as Platonism; existentialism "attacked the Platonic tradition for suppressing flux in favor of a more stable, Parmenidean vision of the universe." To consider how existentialism can function in such everyday situations as romance or work, Gosetti-Ferencei recommends embracing "multiple roles in life" that are "authentically embodied." Digestible summaries and ideas for practical application make this guide accessible to any philosophically minded reader. Even those well versed in existentialist thought will walk away from this with a new appreciation for the philosophy.
