While there are many courses and tutorials online, learning from a book is still one of the best ways to greatly improve your skills. Below I have selected top Existential Philosophy books.
- Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy (1962)
- Meaning-Centred Existential Analysis: Philosophy as Psychotherapy in the Work of Viktor E. Frankl (2016)
- Phenomenology of the Alien: Basic Concepts (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2011)
- In Praise of Philosophy and Other Essays (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (1988)
- The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting (Northwester University Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (1993)
- The Existential Giraffe (2012)
- Zizek’s Ontology: A Transcendental Materialist Theory of Subjectivity (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2008)
- Phenomenology and Embodiment: Husserl and the Constitution of Subjectivity (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2014)
- Political Anthropology (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2018)
- From Text to Action: Essays in Hermeneutics, II (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2007)
- The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2001)
- Signs (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (1964)
- Existential Philosophy and the Promise of Education: Learning from Myths and Metaphors (2016)
- The Merleau-Ponty Reader (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2007)
- The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in Hermeneutics (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2007)
Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy (1962)
Widely recognized as the finest definition of existentialist philosophy ever written, this book introduced existentialism to America in 1958. Barrett speaks eloquently and directly to concerns of the 1990s: a period when the irrational and the absurd are no better integrated than before and when humankind is in even greater danger of destroying its existence without ever understanding the meaning of its existence.
Meaning-Centred Existential Analysis: Philosophy as Psychotherapy in the Work of Viktor E. Frankl (2016)
Paperback Publisher: Königshausen & Neumann (June 1, 2016) Language: English ISBN-10: 3826059255 ISBN-13: 978-3826059254 Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.6 x 8.8 inches Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,381,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?
Phenomenology of the Alien: Basic Concepts (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2011)
Tanja Stähler and Alexander Kozin’s elegant translation of Bernhard Waldenfels’s Phenomenology of the Alien (Grundmotive einer Phänomenologie des Fremden) introduces the English readership to the philosophy of alien-experience, a multifaceted and multidimensional phenomenon that permeates our everyday experiences of the life-world with immediate implications for the ways we conduct our social, political, and ethical affairs. With impressive erudition Waldenfels weaves…
In Praise of Philosophy and Other Essays (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (1988)
Book by Merleau-Ponty, Maurice
The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy and Painting (Northwester University Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (1993)
Merleau-Ponty’s essays on aesthetics are some of the major accomplishments of his philosophical career, and rank even today among the most sophisticated reflections on art in all of twentieth-century philosophy. His essays on painting, “Cezanne’s Doubt” (1945), “Indirect Language and the Voices of Silence” (1952), and “Eye and Mind” (1960), have inspired new approaches to epistemology, ontology, and the philosophy of history. Galen A.
The Existential Giraffe (2012)
The Existential Giraffe is a fun kids story about a giraffe trying to figure out whether he is real, and if that matters to his life at all. The wonderfully illustrated story is amusing for adults, and entertaining for kids.
Zizek’s Ontology: A Transcendental Materialist Theory of Subjectivity (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2008)
Slavoj Žižek is one of the most interesting and important philosophers working today, known chiefly for his theoretical explorations of popular culture and contemporary politics. This book focuses on the generally neglected and often overshadowed philosophical core of Žižek’s work—an essential component in any true appreciation of this unique thinker’s accomplishment.
Phenomenology and Embodiment: Husserl and the Constitution of Subjectivity (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2014)
At the dawn of the modern era, philosophers reinterpreted their subject as the study of consciousness, pushing the body to the margins of philosophy. With the arrival of Husserlian thought in the late nineteenth century, the body was once again understood to be part of the transcendental field.
Political Anthropology (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2018)
In Political Anthropology (originally published in 1931 as Macht und menschliche Natur), Helmuth Plessner considers whether politics—conceived as the struggle for power between groups, nations, and states—belongs to the essence of the human.
From Text to Action: Essays in Hermeneutics, II (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2007)
With his writings on phenomenology, psychoanalysis, Marxism, ideology, and religion, Paul Ricoeur has single-handedly redefined and revitalized the hermeneutic tradition. From Text to Action is an essential companion to the now classic The Conflict of Interpretations.
The Phenomenon of Life: Toward a Philosophical Biology (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2001)
A classic of phenomenology and existentialism, The Phenomenon of Life sets forth a systematic and comprehensive philosophy–an existential interpretation of biological facts laid out in support of his claim that the mind is prefigured throughout organic existence.
Signs (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (1964)
“Speech is a way of tearing out a meaning from an undivided whole.”Thus does Maurice Merleau-Ponty describe speech in this collection of his important writings on the philosophy of expression, composed during the last decade of his life. For him, expression is a category of human behavior and existence much broader than language alone. He maintains that man is essentially expressive, even prior to speaking: in his silence, gestures, and lived behavior.
Existential Philosophy and the Promise of Education: Learning from Myths and Metaphors (2016)
Myths and metaphors share not only an ability to call our attention to aspects of our world of which we were previously unaware, but also a propensity toward symbolic meanings and interpretations.
The Merleau-Ponty Reader (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2007)
The first reader to offer a comprehensive view of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's (1908-1961) work, this selection collects in one volume the foundational essays necessary for understanding the core of this critical twentieth-century philosopher's thought.
The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in Hermeneutics (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (2007)
This collection brings together twenty-two essays by Paul Ricoeur under the topics of structuralism, psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, and religion. In dramatic conciseness, the essays illuminate the work of one of the leading philosophers of the day. Those interested in Ricoeur’s development of the philosophy of language will find rich and suggestive reading. But the diversity of essays also speaks beyond the confines of philosophy to linguists, theologians, psychologists, and psychoanalysts.
Best Existential Philosophy Books to Read
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some existential philosophy books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Experience and Empiricism: Hegel, Hume, and the Early Deleuze
Author(s): Russell Ford
ID: 3607839, Publisher: Northwestern University Press, Year: 2023, Size: 1 Mb, Format: pdf
Idealism after Existentialism: Encounters in Philosophy of Religion
Author(s): N. N. Trakakis
ID: 3664560, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2023, Size: 1 Mb, Format: pdf
The Possibility of Philosophy: Course Notes from the College de France, 1959–1961
Author(s): Maurice Merleau-Ponty (author), Keith Whitmoyer (transl.), Stephanie Menase (editor)
ID: 3183205, Publisher: Northwestern University Press, Year: 2022, Size: 3 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are absolutely best-sellers according to Chicago Tribune, others are drafted by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.