1st Edition
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism
Of the philosophical movements of the twentieth century existentialism is one of the most powerful and thought-provoking. Its engagement with the themes of authenticity, freedom, bad faith, nihilism, and the death of God captured the imagination of millions. However, in the twenty-first century existentialism is grappling with fresh questions and debates that move far beyond traditional existential preoccupations, ranging from the lived experience of the embodied self, intersectionality, and feminist theory to comparative philosophy, digital existentialism, disability studies, and philosophy of race.
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism explores these topics and more, connecting the ideas and insights of existentialism with some of the most urgent debates and challenges in philosophy today. Eight clear sections explore the following topics:
- methodology and technology
- social and political perspectives
- environment and place
- affectivity and emotion
- death and freedom
- value
- existentialism and Asian philosophy
- aging and disability.
As well as chapters on key figures such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, and Beauvoir, the Handbook includes chapters on topics as diverse as Chicana feminism, ecophilosophy and the environment, Latina existentialism, Black nihilism, the Kyoto school and southeast Asian existentialism, and the experiences of aging, disability, and death.
Essential reading for students and researchers in the areas of existentialism and phenomenology, The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism will also be of interest to those studying ethics, philosophy and gender, philosophy of race, the emotions and philosophical issues in health and illness as well as related disciplines such as Literature, Sociology, and Political Theory.
Introduction Kevin Aho, Megan Altman, and Hans Pedersen
Part 1: Methodology and Technology
1. Existential Phenomenology and Concepts: Thinking with Heidegger Lawrence Hatab
2. Existential Phenomenology and Qualitative Research Anthony Vincent Fernandez
3. Existentialism and AI in the 21st-Century: Thoughts on the Control Problem Hans Pedersen
4. Existentialism and Death in a Digital Age Patrick Stokes
5. Being in Digital Worlds Rebecca Longtin
Part 2: Social and Political Perspectives
6. Existence Theory and Contemporary Culture Patrick Baert, Marcus Morgan, and Rin Ushiyama
7. Sartre and the Politics of the Far Right William Remley
8. Existentialism and Political Transformation: Sartre and the Ambiguities of Freedom and Praxis Laura McMahon
9. Arendt’s Political Existentialism Niall Keane
10. Four Reasons for Rebellion: On the Existentialist Revolt against the Crowd Antony Aumann
11. Self-Creation in Chicana Feminism Lori Gallegos and Emma Velez
Part 3: Environment and Place
12. Place, Dwelling, Existence Janet Donohoe
13. Existentialism and Place: Reflections on the Significance of Place through Goldsworthy, Heidegger, and Nietzsche Gerard Kuperus
14. An Eco-Existentialist Analysis of the Lived Experience of Climate Change and Its Denial Ruth Tietjen
15. Latina Existentialism and the Multiplicitous Self: Being-between-worlds and Not Being-at-Ease Mariana Ortega
16. Mexican Existentialism Carlos Alberto Sánchez
Part 4: Affectivity and Emotion
17. Faces of Finitude: Death, Loss, and Trauma Robert Stolorow
18. Revisiting Kierkegaard on Anxiety and Despair Emily Hughes
19. Shame Luna Dolezal
20. Beauvoir on Non-Monogamy in Loving Relationships Ellie Anderson
Part 5: Death and Freedom
21. Death Is an Injustice: Dispelling a Common Myth about Existentialism and Mortality Adam Buben
22. We are Our Possibilities: From Sartre to Beauvoir to Løgstrup Matthew Ratcliffe
23. Existential Choice Revisited Richard Polt
24. Existentialism in Frederick Douglass James Haile III
Part 6: Value
25. Black Nihilism Devon Johnson
26. Nothing Matters: Heidegger on Nietzsche on Nihilism Lee Braver
27. Ideal Value and Exemplary Experience Irene McMullin
28. Existential Crises Katherine Withy
29. Existential Normativity and Secular Faith Steven Crowell
30. Kierkegaard on Evading Moral Evasions Gordon Marino
Part 7: Existentialism and Asian Philosophy
31. Recuperating from Existential Emptiness Sickness: Nishitani after Sartre Jason Wirth
32. Nothingness and Love in Nietzsche and the Kyoto School Rick Anthony Furtak
33. Buddhism and Existentialism: Saṃvega as Existential Dread of the Human Condition Stephen Harris
34. Self-Awareness and Nothingness: Wang Yangming, Wang Ji, and Existential Confucianism Eric Nelson
Part 8: Approaches to Aging and Disability
35. The Phenomenology of Frailty: Existentialism and Old-Age Vulnerability Fredrik Svenaeus
36. Shifting Horizons in Aging and the Call for a Spiralic Understanding of the Future Kirsten Jacobson
37. Authenticity and Aging John Russon
38. Useless Mouths or Useful Labour? Applying Simone de Beauvoir’s Philosophy of Old Age to Gray Labour Force Exploitation Shannon Musset
39. Nostalgia and Well-Being: An Existentialist Analysis Dylan Trigg
40. Possibilities of which I Am: Disability, Existentialism, and Embodiment Joel Michael Reynolds.
Index
Biography
Kevin Aho is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Communication and Philosophy at Florida Gulf Coast University, USA.
Megan Altman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cornell College, USA.
Hans Pedersen is Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA.
