Existential America

"As Cotkin shows, not only did Americans readily take to existentialism, but they were already heirs to a rich tradition of thinkers - from Jonathan Edwards and Herman Melville to Emily Dickinson and William James - who had wrestled with the problems of existence and the contingency of the world long before Sartre and his colleagues. After introducing the concept of an American existential tradition, Cotkin examines how formal existentialism first arrived in America in the 1930s through discussion of Kierkegaard and the early vogue among New York intellectuals for the works of Sartre, Beauvoir, and Camus.

"As Cotkin shows, not only did Americans readily take to existentialism, but they were already heirs to a rich tradition of thinkers - from Jonathan Edwards and Herman Melville to Emily Dickinson and William James - who had wrestled with the problems of existence and the contingency of the world long before Sartre and his colleagues. After introducing the concept of an American existential tradition, Cotkin examines how formal existentialism first arrived in America in the 1930s through discussion of Kierkegaard and the early vogue among New York intellectuals for the works of Sartre, Beauvoir, and Camus.

Latin America and Existentialism is a preliminary intellectual history, prioritising literature and contextualising Latin American philosophical contributions from the 1860s to the late 1930s, decades that coincide with the canon’s foundational years. This study takes a Pan-American approach to move the critical focus away from the River Plate, a region that has received some critical attention. In doing so, it focuses on existentially-neglected writers such as Brazil’s Machado de Assis and Graciliano Ramos, José Asunción Silva from Colombia, Cuba’s Enrique Labrador Ruiz, and the Chilean María Luisa Bombal. Underappreciated Latin American philosophical voices and existentialism’s canonical perspectives allow the author to discuss the many problems concerning the experiencing ‘I’ of these authors, and to consider such existential themes as ethical vacuity, forlornness, the crisis of insufficiency, the conundrum of choice, and the enigma of authentic being. The concentration on Latin America’s existentially-hued interest in the human condition is an invitation to the reader to reconsider the peripheral status in the existentialism canon.

A jargon-free examination of a significant chapter in the history of ideas. The book should be of interest to both the Sartre specialist and the general reader.

America's Existential Crisis is a historical journey and a road trip. It starts with the personal histories of two ancestors of the author. One was a lieutenant in the 7th Cavalry at the Wounded Knee massacre and died from a wound in a related action. The other was honored with a "friendship gift" from the Potawatomi, which Jeff Rasley inherited. Their stories lead into the history of the Plains Indian Wars, the 1830 Indian Removal Act, and the confinement of Native Americans on reservations. Witness accounts from participants explain how the inhumane treatment of Sioux tribes on reservations in the Badlands, and an accidental shot, turned Wounded Knee Creek into a killing field on December 29, 1890. The historical narrative loops back from Wounded Knee to the theft of the Black Hills from the Sioux Nation and the Potawatomi Trail of Death. The road trip proceeds through the Badlands to Devils Tower, Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and ends at Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The historical narrative fast-forwards to the 1970s, when pop culture transformed "bad Injuns" into cool, stoic, and wise Native Americans. Incidents, like the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee and protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock Reservation, are described. Land use disputes among the US government, commercial interests, Native tribes, environmentalists, and outdoors enthusiasts over Bears Ears National Monument and Oak Flats are explained. Major historical actors make appearances in the book, including George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, as well as militant members of the American Indian Movement, the founders of the Crazy Horse Memorial, peaceful and angry protesters against oil pipelines, Deb Haaland, the current Secretary of the Interior, and, of course, Donald Trump. The historical journey leads into an argument that all non-Native Americans have benefited from the genocidal subjugation of Native American nations by our national ancestors. And so, we have inherited an obligation to our fellow Americans, whose ancestors were massacred and forced off their traditional lands onto reservations. The journey ends with a proposed plan to fulfill that obligation through culturally sensitive development of Native communities.

His theoretical ideas are illustrated with examples from high culture - painting, music, and literature - as well as from contemporary media and popular culture, including landscapes, gastronomy, novels, Walt Disney films, and post-colonial practices. Signs are examined in their interdisciplinary as well as their intertextual connections in this thoughtful collection of essays."--BOOK JACKET.

Widely recognized as the finest definition of existentialist philosophy ever written, this book introduced existentialism to America in 1958. Barrett speaks eloquently and directly to concerns of the 1990s: a period when the irrational and the absurd are no better integrated than before and when humankind is in even greater danger of destroying its existence without ever understanding the meaning of its existence. Irrational Man begins by discussing the roots of existentialism in the art and thinking of Augustine, Aquinas, Pascal, Baudelaire, Blake, Dostoevski, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Picasso, Joyce, and Beckett. The heart of the book explains the views of the foremost existentialists—Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. The result is a marvelously lucid definition of existentialism and a brilliant interpretation of its impact.

"The third edition ..., first published in 1940 and last revised in 1976, has been updated completely ... the editors have revised 448 articles, replaced 1,360 articles, and added 841 new entries. Gender, race, and social-history perspectives have been added to many entries ... In another departure from the earlier editions, the editors have added maps and illustrations throughout the text ..."--... American Libraries, May 2003.

Our nation needs healing dialogues--especially now. In the wake of the coronavirus and George Floyd killing, many of the issues dividing us as a nation--race, politics, class, gender, climate change, globalism, and religion--have only been magnified, and although the U.S. Surgeon general has called for an end to bickering and partisanship, it is unclear to what extent this will take effect. What is clear, however, is that safe, mindfully structured dialogues are imperative if we are to salvage our republic and the democratic principles on which it is built. The Depolarizing of America is the culmination of years of effort to promote safe, mindfully structured dialogues in homes, offices, classrooms, and community centers. It is an attempt to "give away" the time-tested skills with which the author, Kirk Schneider, has intimate experience, to a range of both laypersons and professionals; people who yearn to socially heal. The book begins with personal observations about our polarized state, both within the United States (and by implication) the world. It follows up with a reflection on how the sense of awe toward life--issuing in part from America's founding spirit--can serve as a counter to this polarized state. It concludes with practical strategies centered on dialogue. These strategies translate awe-based sensibilities, including humility and wonder toward life, to a rediscovery of one another, a rediscovery of our potential to shape and revitalize our times. As a follow up to Schneider's groundbreaking book, The Polarized Mind, The Depolarizing of America is an essential read for those who are striving for social healing and positive collective change.