Paris, 1933. Three friends were drinking apricot cocktails at the Gaslight Bar on Avenue Montparnasse.
One of them, a young philosopher named Raymond Aron, was praising fellow philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir for a new philosophy he had discovered in Germany - phenomenology.
"Look," he said, "if you were a phenomenologist, you could talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!" Thus began the most widespread and far-reaching philosophical movement of the 20th century.
Inspired, Sartre combined phenomenology with his French humanistic sentiments to create a brand new philosophical thought - modern existentialism.
In this book, the famous British writer Sarah Bakewell combines history, biography and philosophy to passionately tell an existential story full of struggle, love, resistance and betrayal from an epic perspective. It explores in depth what the existentialists who were once troubled by them can tell us when each of us once again faces questions about absolute freedom, global responsibility and human authenticity in today's strife-torn, technology-driven world.
Reader comments
It gave me quite a warning. From Sartre's refusal of the Nobel Prize, to Beauvoir's challenge to the institution of marriage, to Camus's participation in the resistance movement, you will find that their thoughts and lives are unified. This kind of consistency is very rare today. What contemporary people are more accustomed to is the refinement of thought and life: discussing "Being and Nothingness" in online forums, and then continuing to endure a meaningless life day after day. Share Camus's quote but dare not leave a suffocating relationship. Praise Heidegger's concept of "authenticity", but drift with it in every major life decision. The core proposition of existentialism is mentioned here - existence precedes essence (existence itself has no meaning, and we have to give it meaning later). When Sartre declared that "man is condemned to be free," it was an almost overwhelming sobering agent. Heidegger's criticism of "ordinary people" life and Camus' interpretation of the myth of Sisyphus all point in the same direction: in a world without predetermined meaning, people must be responsible for their own existence. At the end of the book, Bakewell writes that existentialism was "ultimately too individualistic to change society." But looking at the problem from another angle, it may be just the opposite: it is not that existentialism is too individualistic, but that we are too timid and dare not implement individualism to the end. Existentialism never promised to change society, it only promised to keep individuals sane in an absurd world. Now, when existentialism becomes part of popular culture, perhaps the most existential thing to do is to refuse to follow it as a fad.
I read it on and off for two months. Pomodoro recorded that it took me 6 hours and 42 minutes to read the 365,000 words. In fact, I have always been interested in philosophy and wanted to learn philosophy on my own, but for me, most monographs are very difficult to read. Therefore, this kind of history of philosophy is just outside my comfort zone, but not too much. It can be learned without too much pressure and is very suitable for me.
The introduction to philosophy begins with history. If you really like philosophy, you will be intoxicated by this historical work. It will show you another world. Through abstract philosophy, you can see concrete people, how they understand existentialism, and how they practice it. You will be exposed to many concepts that are different from the social culture you live in. You will be shocked and think about it. Whether you agree or not, this is a masterpiece that touches your soul.
I like this book. To put it more deeply, it can be used as an introduction to introduce us into a magical world of existentialism. To put it more simply, it helps us understand the lives of philosophers and gives people a sense of "voyeuristic" pleasure.
I have always loved reading biographies, especially those that resemble celebrity anecdotes. It not only makes people feel that celebrities are so relatable and interesting, but also allows them to look back on themselves and think that people in the world always have flaws, which should not be criticized harshly and should be called "interesting things".
In some chapters, the author's own preset political stance affects the narrative and is not objective enough. But I also suspect that my own position is at play. Regardless, this is a great book and recommended to everyone who likes to study people.
From the origin of Husserl's phenomenology, to Heidegger's development and challenge of his thought, to Sartre and Beauvoir's combination of existentialism and novel creation, and Camus' unique thinking on existentialism in the context of war. Bakewell combines history, biography and philosophy to create an existential story full of struggle, love, rebellion and betrayal.
As a human being, I have no predetermined nature at all. My nature is created by what I choose to do.
The most hateful thing about war is that it renders individuals meaningless.
There is no marked path that leads man to his own salvation; he must continually create his own path. However, by creating a path, he has freedom and responsibility, loses excuses, and all hope lies within himself.
Existentialism has the same goal of liberating human nature and creating a philosophy that can explain life choices.
Don't think about looking outside; return to yourself. Truth dwells in the soul.
We often make the mistake of thinking that the things that make us free—context, meaning, factuality, circumstances, the general direction of our lives—are the things that define us and take away our freedom. But in fact, only by relying on all of these can we achieve freedom in the true sense.
It's more of a history of philosophy than a philosophy book, which is quite interesting. I didn't expect that so many philosophers I've read are entangled with each other (
A good history of philosophy. It introduces the life experiences of the philosophers of the existential school and their relationships with each other, as well as the influence of their contemporary environment and personal personalities on their doctrines.
This book is both professional and popular. It is recommended for book friends who are interested in a deeper understanding of the lives and thoughts of existentialists after having some preliminary understanding of existentialism.
Philosophy is also the history of philosophy, the bizarre life of a philosopher
Originally, I came here for Beauvoir. I wanted to read Beauvoir, so I decided to start with existentialism. As a result, after reading it, I found that there are many more interesting contents.
It gave me quite a warning. From Sartre's refusal of the Nobel Prize, to Beauvoir's challenge to the institution of marriage, to Camus's participation in the resistance movement, you will find that their thoughts and lives are unified. This kind of consistency is very rare today. What contemporary people are more accustomed to is the refinement of thought and life: discussing "Being and Nothingness" in online forums, and then continuing to endure a meaningless life day after day. Share Camus's quote but dare not leave a suffocating relationship. Praise Heidegger's concept of "authenticity", but drift with it in every major life decision. The core proposition of existentialism is mentioned here - existence precedes essence (existence itself has no meaning, and we have to give it meaning later). When Sartre declared that "man is condemned to be free," it was an almost overwhelming sobering agent. Heidegger's criticism of "ordinary people" life and Camus' interpretation of the myth of Sisyphus all point in the same direction: in a world without predetermined meaning, people must be responsible for their own existence. At the end of the book, Bakewell writes that existentialism was "ultimately too individualistic to change society." But looking at the problem from another angle, it may be just the opposite: it is not that existentialism is too individualistic, but that we are too timid and dare not implement individualism to the end. Existentialism never promised to change society, it only promised to keep individuals sane in an absurd world. Now, when existentialism becomes part of popular culture, perhaps the most existential thing to do is to refuse to follow it as a fad.
I read it on and off for two months. Pomodoro recorded that it took me 6 hours and 42 minutes to read the 365,000 words. In fact, I have always been interested in philosophy and wanted to learn philosophy on my own, but for me, most monographs are very difficult to read. Therefore, this kind of history of philosophy is just outside my comfort zone, but not too much. It can be learned without too much pressure and is very suitable for me.
The introduction to philosophy begins with history. If you really like philosophy, you will be intoxicated by this historical work. It will show you another world. Through abstract philosophy, you can see concrete people, how they understand existentialism, and how they practice it. You will be exposed to many concepts that are different from the social culture you live in. You will be shocked and think about it. Whether you agree or not, this is a masterpiece that touches your soul.
I like this book. To put it more deeply, it can be used as an introduction to introduce us into a magical world of existentialism. To put it more simply, it helps us understand the lives of philosophers and gives people a sense of "voyeuristic" pleasure. I have always loved reading biographies, especially those that resemble celebrity anecdotes. It not only makes people feel that celebrities are so relatable and interesting, but also allows them to look back on themselves and think that people in the world always have flaws, which should not be criticized harshly and should be called "interesting things". In some chapters, the author's own preset political stance affects the narrative and is not objective enough. But I also suspect that my own position is at play. Regardless, this is a great book and recommended to everyone who likes to study people.
From the origin of Husserl's phenomenology, to Heidegger's development and challenge of his thought, to Sartre and Beauvoir's combination of existentialism and novel creation, and Camus' unique thinking on existentialism in the context of war. Bakewell combines history, biography and philosophy to create an existential story full of struggle, love, rebellion and betrayal. As a human being, I have no predetermined nature at all. My nature is created by what I choose to do. The most hateful thing about war is that it renders individuals meaningless. There is no marked path that leads man to his own salvation; he must continually create his own path. However, by creating a path, he has freedom and responsibility, loses excuses, and all hope lies within himself. Existentialism has the same goal of liberating human nature and creating a philosophy that can explain life choices. Don't think about looking outside; return to yourself. Truth dwells in the soul. We often make the mistake of thinking that the things that make us free—context, meaning, factuality, circumstances, the general direction of our lives—are the things that define us and take away our freedom. But in fact, only by relying on all of these can we achieve freedom in the true sense.
It's more of a history of philosophy than a philosophy book, which is quite interesting. I didn't expect that so many philosophers I've read are entangled with each other (
A good history of philosophy. It introduces the life experiences of the philosophers of the existential school and their relationships with each other, as well as the influence of their contemporary environment and personal personalities on their doctrines.
This book is both professional and popular. It is recommended for book friends who are interested in a deeper understanding of the lives and thoughts of existentialists after having some preliminary understanding of existentialism.
Philosophy is also the history of philosophy, the bizarre life of a philosopher
Originally, I came here for Beauvoir. I wanted to read Beauvoir, so I decided to start with existentialism. As a result, after reading it, I found that there are many more interesting contents.