Existentialism: Where To Start

Existentialism is a vague and complex ideological movement filled with prominent figures such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, among many others
Today, I'll breakdown this loosely defined school of thought, explain the general themes and principles while also providing 7 book recommendations for where to start
Gage's Video: • The Reason Existential...
Books Mentioned:
Existentialism is a Humanism, Sartre - amzn.to/3Uc2Y5v
Two Ages, Kierkegaaard - amzn.to/449HDhS
On the Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche - amzn.to/4aMRAnP
Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche - amzn.to/3Qenph2
The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus - amzn.to/3xQ2Xgk
Notes from Underground - amzn.to/3wezfkt
The Trial, Kafka - amzn.to/4b18eQZ
Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
0:39 - What is Existentialism?
1:05 - Key Themes & Principles
3:43 - Book #1
5:10 - Book #2
6:56 - Book #3
8:39 - Book #4
11:28 - Book #5
14:52 - Book #6
17:55 - Book #7
20:12 - Simone de Beauvoir
21:58 - Summarized
22:32 - Why Our Society Needs Existentialism
24:38 - Outro
My Instagram: / brockcovington
My Goodreads: / brock-c
My Substack: brockcovington.substack.com
#existentialism #philosophy

[@ViVeriVniversvmVivusVici]

One does not simply start with the existentialists

[@Geemeel1]

Great reviews and very clear explained for starters, Thanks!! 👏🏽

[@nacho6438]

definitely going to check these out!

[@sudhanshulaha7836]

I tried reading the myth of Sisyphus but couldn't as the language was too complex.

[@TheActiveMind1]

No worries! It is quite a challenging work. I’d commend coming back to it in a few months and leveraging supplementary resources (KZbin, podcasts, etc) to help your reading of it

[@hatethenewyou]

Another great video, very insightful as always man.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I'm grateful for the support!

[@doyle6000]

Subscribed, thanks!

[@philipptiepolt5547]

Thanks a lot for this excellent video! I can follow your thoughts and I think they are deep. Don't be annoyed about These comments like: "Take a lesson in logic first!"... We are AMAteurs and we know there are lots of frustrated professional philosophers working as taxi drivers who channel their frustration into your channel. 😅 ❤ All the best from Leipzig, Germany.

[@jackwalter5970]

I never thought of Dostoevsky as being existentialist. Interesting.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Both he, Kafka, and other writers interwove existential or philosophical concerns into their fiction in a way that suggests ideas or arguments in a less direct, didactic way than philosophical works do

[@ReadtoFilth]

Yep all of them are on my Existentialism TBR. I may have to reread Myth of Sisyphus because boy that was a hard read. I enjoy reading Albert Camus’ works and I subscribe to Absurdism. Have you read any other Albert Camus’ books?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Yes, I’ve read The Stranger and The Rebel

[@floridaboy6357]

Where to start? Way ahead of you bud 😭

[@ViVeriVniversvmVivusVici]

Lol I've read everything from the thumbnail. This channel is not for me.

[@IAmWillJR]

Do you take recommendations on what to explore?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Of course!

[@IAmWillJR]

@@TheActiveMind1, South east Asia or Japanese literature?

[@TheActiveMind1]

@@IAmWillJR Feel free to send any recommendations!

[@IAmWillJR]

@@TheActiveMind1, I read a few queer literature, I doubt there’s an active audience or any in the KZbin community. I could be wrong! 😅 I was a few hundred pages in ‘A Fine Balance’ which talked about the hardship of different perspectives last I remembered. You can start there for South East Asia Literature fiction. Theres knowledge to be said about every book but I am certain the book I have mentioned is a work of art in it of itself.

[@sihamwh]

⁠@@IAmWillJR i second A fine balance ✋

[@billpoole8541]

So existentialism and free will are essentially the same thing?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Not quite. It's a bit complicated as some like Nietzsche outright deny free will, while Camus acknowledges the limit of free will. For example, Sisyphus may be condemned to live in this absurd existence driven by fate, but he can consciously choose to find solace in the pursuit or 'rebel against the absurd'. Free will is one of those very nuanced, convoluted topics within philosophy

[@sihamwh]

I don’t beleive you can cure moral decay by a philosophy of individual dogmas. The thing with creating your own truth is that with eight billions of us you’ll have an equal amount of truths and some of them will clash. And knowing one has the autonomy to change one’s life does not guarantee a willingness to do so or for it to be for the better. Free will does not a better world make imo, rather the will to do better at each individual level wish is not a universal goal and that goes back again to the concept of what’s better and for whom and the zero sum of it all. I wished you didn’t mention Simone with a caveat as it makes it sound like an afterthought or a foot note when by and large she is a key figure of existentialism french or otherwise 😜

[@TheActiveMind1]

Existentialism is not about creating individual truths by assessing own’s individuality and self-expression within a totality of individuals. I would agree that a belief in free will doesn’t inherently evoke a desire to enact such will, but that’s not the fault of a philosophy but of that particular individual. Lastly, I didn’t discuss Simone as a caveat, rather I gave her a dedicated section of the video because she is a key figure, yet I wouldn’t include her books as part of my recommended starter list

[@stephen1340c]

For an existentialist like Martin Heidegger, making the most of one's life, freely and responsibly, means scapegoating and committing genocide against racial, ethnic, religious, and/or cultural minorities.

[@De_Selby]

Interesting philosophy. More so shocking than interesting. Could you recommend any works of his?

[@stephen1340c]

@De_Selby Not a recommendation but a suggestion: Look into his "Black Notebooks". His anti-Semitic prejudices were fundamental to his philosophy.

[@damiana.9544]

How to start existencialism? Sorry to tell you, but It already started, you cannot run away from it, existencialism in a neverending conundrum everyone will return to at random times of life XD

[@TheActiveMind1]

Haha the never-ending crisis!

[@daathmann5814]

don't

[@ViVeriVniversvmVivusVici]

Agreed. Save yourself before it's too late.

[@user-dg6rv2tj6d]

Best advice ever