Dictionary of Existentialism

The area of philosophy defined as existentialism gained prominence after World War II. Among the more popular existentialist philosophers and writers are Friedrich Nietzsche, Soren Kierkegaard, and Fyodor Dostoyevski. Instead of focusing upon a particular aspect of human existence, existentialists focus on the whole being as he or she exists in the world. Rebelling against the rationalism proposed by such writers as Descartes and Hegel, existentialists reject the emphasis placed on the human being as primarily a thinking being. Freedom, they counter, is central to human existence. Correspondingly, human relations and experiences can not be reduced simply to thinking, as the whole being becomes involved with the processes. This dictionary provides, through alphabetically arranged entries, brief overviews of the tenets, philosophers, and writers of existentialism. This reference book is intended as a tool to provide students and scholars with concise information on particular existentialist thinkers, writers, terms, and ideas. The alphabetical organization, coupled with cross references throughout the text, makes the work easily accessible to those looking up specific information and to those tracing interconnected ideas, philosophers, and writers. The bibliography identifies helpful resources for further study.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Alphabetical Entries Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
HAIM GORDON is Professor of Education at Ben Gurion University in Israel. His previous books with Greenwood include Make Room for Dreams: Spiritual Challenges to Zionism (1989), Naguib Mahfouz's Egypt: Existential Themes in His Writings (1990), Sartre and Evil: Guidelines for a Struggle, (with Rivca Gordon, 1995), and Fighting Evil: Unsung Heroes in the Novels of Graham Greene (1997).

Review :
Gordon's dictionary is badly needed, since no substantial dictionaries have appeared since the early 1970s, and those earlier dictionaries are limited….The entries are informative yet concise, are written and signed by academic experts, provide brief lists of references and have extensive cross-references printed in uppercase…. This dictionary provides the thorough reference source…. It is highly recommended for all academic collections, especially for undergraduates and advanced students investigating the influence of existentialism on culture and thinking. Recommended for academic and large public libraries. This will be a solid addition to the philosophy section of any reference collection, and a handsome complement to general and subject-specific encyclopedias. The notion of producing a volume of this sort is rather ingenious….The outcome is an interesting pastiche that can be useful both to such scholars and to persons seeking information to whom the field of existentialism has hitheto been terra incognita….[H]aim Gordon, who is to be congratulated for this massive undertaking.