Existentialism for Dummies (ISBN - 0470276991)

386 Pages·2021·3.82 MB·English

by Christopher Panza
and Gregory Gale

Existentialism

FOR
DUMmIES

‰

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Existentialism For Dummies®

Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as
permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior
written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to
the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone].
Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing,
Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax [phone], or online at http://
www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the
Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade
dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affi liates in the United
States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor
mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF
THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH-
OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE
CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES
CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE
UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR
OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF
A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE
AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA-
TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE
OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES
THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT
MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS
WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND
WHEN IT IS READ.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may
not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008930834

ISBN: 978-0-470-27699-0

Manufactured in the United States of America

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by Christopher Panza
and Gregory Gale

Existentialism

FOR
DUMmIES

‰

01_276990-ffirs.indd i
01_276990-ffirs.indd i
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6/27/08 11:43:28 PM

Existentialism For Dummies®

Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as
permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior
written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to
the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone].
Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing,
Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax [phone], or online at http://
www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the
Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade
dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affi liates in the United
States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor
mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF
THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH-
OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE
CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES
CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE
UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR
OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF
A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE
AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA-
TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE
OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES
THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT
MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS
WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND
WHEN IT IS READ.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may
not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008930834

ISBN: 978-0-470-27699-0

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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About the Authors

Christopher Panza was born and raised in New York. After struggling unsuccess-
fully to fi gure out the meaning of his existence as a young teenager, he decided
to go to the State University of New York at Purchase, where he could major in
philosophy and literature and fi gure out all the answers. He got his degree, but
no fi nal answers to the meaning of life. After college, he spent a few more years
working in business and hammering away at that meaning-of-life question. In
frustration, he decided to then attend the University of Connecticut to pursue his
master’s and doctoral degrees (in philosophy) in order to fi nally get an answer.
Once again, he accumulated more degrees but arrived no closer to the mean-
ing of life. So he fi gured he’d at least put his degrees to work and has worked
as a professor in the Philosophy and Religion Department at Drury University,
in Springfi eld, Missouri, since 2002. He received the University’s Excellence in
Teaching Award in 2004, which is surprising given that he tries to infect students
with the same frustrating desire to seek answers to unanswerable questions. In
addition to his interests in existentialism, Chris has interests in (and teaches on)
a number of other topics such as ethics, Confucianism, free will, and modern phi-
losophy. Chris is also married and has one three-year-old daughter, Parker, with
one more addition to the family on the way. Chris is hoping to infect his own chil-
dren one day with the same desire to investigate life that has long invigorated
him and as a result made life an interesting and mysterious experience.

Gregory Gale discovered existentialism at the tender age of 15 and has been
dancing over the abyss ever since. After receiving his BA in Philosophy from the
Colorado College and his MA in Philosophy from the University of Connecticut,
he went wandering the earth in search of his Dasein. He has spent most of the
last 15 years teaching everything from Jean-Paul Sartre to Dr. Seuss, and prides
himself on making diffi cult material accessible to everyone. Most recently, his
search for meaning, value, and a really good bourbon took him across the
country in a beat-up Toyota Tercel. He wound up in Las Vegas, Nevada where he
lives, works, writes, and pursues his philosophical investigations into the exis-
tential signifi cance of Elvis Impersonators, Showgirls, and the Poker Philosophy
of Doyle Brunson.

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Dedication

Christopher Panza: To my wife, Christie, and my daughter, Parker, for their
never ending source of love and support. Also to my mother Janice, my
father Tony, and my sister Amy, all of whom have endured having a philoso-
pher in the family for far too long.

Gregory Gale: I’d like to dedicate this book, with much love, to my father,
Anthony Lloyd Gale, and my mother, Rosemary Gale. From the depth and
breadth of your humanity, I learned to measure all things. I also dedicate this
book to my Uncle Steve. Nietzsche said that style is a great art. You were my
favorite artist.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

Christopher Panza: My primary acknowledgement is to my wife, Christie, and
my daughter, Parker. Both of them had to endure many months of watching me
type away at a computer instead of engaging in family-oriented projects and
plans. Christie has been very understanding and supportive of this project, not
to mention graciously agreeing to read and edit early drafts of a few chapters.
I’d also like to thank Lisa Esposito, my department head, for helping to arrange
work assignments (and for taking some on herself) so that this project could
be completed. Also I’d like to thank Jason Swadley, a former student, for com-
menting on some early chapter drafts. Lastly, I’d like to thank Charlie Ess for
agreeing to serve as the technical editor for this book and providing many
good and insightful comments on how to improve the draft.

Gregory Gale: There are too many people to thank, and I apologize in advance
to anyone I may have forgotten. First off, thanks to the folks at Wiley Publishing
for making this such a positive experience, and for all the hard work to make
Existentialism For Dummies the best book it could be. Thanks to our project
editor, Tim Gallan, for all his patience, hard work, and clear direction, which
has consistently kept me on the right path. Our copy editor, Sarah Faulkner,
was magnifi cent and often knew what I was trying to say better than I did. Our
acquisitions editor, Michael Lewis, helped us distill a massive subject matter
into a workable project and get it ready for prime time. Charlie Ess kept us
honest by policing our content and making sure we knew what we were talking
about. The book is deeper and truer for his efforts. I am deeply grateful to you
all for your assistance.

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I owe my involvement in this project to Adam Potthast; for getting the ball
rolling I am deeply grateful. Many other friends and family members also
made this possible through their support and criticism. In particular, Andrea
and JJ Christensen, Tara Vazquez, David Maddow, and Lorraine Miller threw
themselves into the project and were a tireless source of interest, questions,
encouragement, and thoughtful criticism. Each of you has contributed to this
work and I appreciate each and every one of you.

Finally, I want to thank the teachers who helped make philosophy and exis-
tentialism essential parts of my life. Fr. Richard M. Jacobs got me hooked on
philosophy when he introduced me to Plato at 14, and used Theology class
to open my mind rather than close it. Dr. Clark “Doc” Thayer immersed me in
existentialism and postmodernism. For the former I thank you, for the latter
I forgive you. Thanks also to John Riker for giving me the courage to follow
my heart and live the philosophy I was studying. Finally, I must thank too
many professors to name in the Philosophy Department at the University of
Connecticut for pushing me harder than I’ve ever been pushed; for teaching
me that even analytic philosophy can be done with passion, fl air, love, and
joy; but most of all, for your understanding when I decided it was time for me
to go. Thank you.

And special thanks to my brilliant and tireless partner, Chris Panza. I could
not have asked for better. Hey, Chris, I think we’ve almost got that boulder
up the hill. . . .

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Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration
form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media
Development

Senior Project Editor: Tim Gallan

Acquisitions Editor: Michael Lewis

Senior Copy Editor: Sarah Faulkner

Editorial Program Coordinator:
Erin Calligan Mooney

Technical Editor: Charles Ess, PhD

Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker

Editorial Assistants: Joe Niesen, Jennette
ElNaggar, David Lutton

Cover Photos: © Steve Bloom Images/
JupiterImages

Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Lynsey Stanford

Layout and Graphics: Stacie Brooks,
Reuben W. Davis, Melissa K. Jester,
Stephanie D. Jumper, Tobin Wilkerson,
Christine Williams,

Proofreaders: John Greenough,
Kathy Simpson

Indexer: Galen Schroeder

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction ................................................................ 1

Part I: Introducing Existentialism .................................. 7

Chapter 1: What Is Existentialism? ..................................................................................9
Chapter 2: The Big Names of Existentialism ................................................................15
Part II: The Fundamental Problem: God Is Dead ..........................................................23
Chapter 3: If God Is Dead, Is Life Meaningless? ............................................................25
Chapter 4: Anxiety, Dread, and Angst in an Empty World..........................................47

Part III: Living a Meaningful Life
in a Meaningless World ............................................ 109

Chapter 5: The Challenge of Absurdity and Authenticity ...........................................73
Chapter 6: Understanding Our Unique Way of Existing in the World .....................111
Chapter 7: Not Tonight, Honey: Why We Need More Passion in Our Lives ...........131
Chapter 8: Sar tre’s Existentialism: Learning to Cope with Freedom ......................157
Chapter 9: Finding Authenticity: Facing Death, Conscience, and Time ..................179
Chapter 10: Kierkegaard: The Task of Being a Religious Existentialist...................203
Chapter 11: Niet zsche: Mastering the Art of Individuality .......................................235

Part IV: The Enduring Impact of Existentialism........... 271

Chapter 12: Fear and Loathing in Existential Politics ...............................................273
Chapter 13: Existentialism and Other Schools of Philosophical Thought .............297
Chapter 14: Doing Psychology the Existential Way ...................................................309

Part V: Part of Tens ................................................. 323

Chapter 15: Ten Great Existential Movies ..................................................................325
Chapter 16: Ten Great Works of Existential Literature .............................................341

Index ...................................................................... 355

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