Existential reading

Greg Bernhardt

I have gained an interest in learning a bit of the existential attitude and would like to hear if anyone has recommended readings. So far I've read papers by Sarte, Kierkegaard, Nietzshe and Husserl. Thanks!

philosophking

My roommate who is a philosophy major said that there is a difference between 'literary' existentialism and 'intellectual' existentialism. What that definition is precisely is for him to know and for me to have passed through one ear and out the other :) .

I read Dostoevsky's The Brother's Karamazov (which is supposedly an early example of existentialism). In fact, most people place the beginning of existentialism with him, but I think that is more for his Notes from the Underground and Dream of a Ridiculous Man. I would check out the latter two especially, because they are much shorter (TBK is around 700 pages, NU is like 60 and DRM is a short story of like 15 pages).

Sartre's supposedly the champion of intellectual existentialism, so good choice there :) . Supposedly 'No Exit' by him is good. Have you heard of 'Waiting for Godot'? I don't think it's Sartre but that is also a good one for existentialism.

metrictensor

This depends on what you want to get out of reading. Camus is an excellent source for existentialism because it is from a literary perspective. There are many different approaches and what is important is the message not the medium.