On Being and Becoming: An Existentialist Approach to Life

by Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei

Overview

On Being and Becoming offers a new approach to existentialist thinking as a vital source of philosophical direction for living meaningfully. Overcoming reductive accounts of existentialist thought, this book critically assesses existentialism's varied and diverse origins, its contemporary relevance, and the ways it encourages creative responses to the question of life's meaning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190913670
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/09/2020
Series:	Guides to the Good Life
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	679 KB

About the Author

Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei is Professor and Kurrelmeyer Chair in German and Professor in Philosophy at the Johns Hopkins University. She is author of The Life of Imagination (Columbia University Press, 2018); Exotic Spaces in German Modernism (Oxford University Press, 2011); The Ecstatic Quotidian (Penn State University Press, 2007); Heidegger, Hölderlin, and the Subject of Poetic Language (Fordham University Press, 2004); and a book of poetry, After the Palace Burns (Zoo Press, 2003) which won The Paris Review Prize. She is the author of Imagination: A Very Short Introduction, forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

Table of Contents

Part I: Encountering Existentialism Prologue Chapter 1:Existentialism in Style and Substance Part II: Existentialism: from Antiquity to Modern Europe Chapter 2. The Rise of Existentialism: A Philosophy for Human Existence Chapter 3. Historical Roots of Existentialism Chapter 4. Romantic Upheavals, Modern Movements Chapter 5. Literature and Art of Existentialism: the 20th Century Part III. Existentialism in Living Dimensions Chapter 6. Self Chapter 7. Others Chapter 8. World Chapter 9. Earth Chapter 10. Being Part IV. Living Existentialism 11. Existentialist Lives: Imitation, Inspiration, and Authenticity 12. Seeking and Taking (and Giving) Advice 13. Being in the Crowd: Anonymity and Individuality in Modern Life 14. Into One's Own, or on 'Finding' Oneself 15. I Selfie, Therefore I Am: On Self-Imaging Culture 16. Being and Waiting (Tables), or The Roles We Play 17. Seizing the Day: On the Present and Presence 18. Love in the Time of Existentialism 19. Existential Suffering, Happiness and Hope 20. Life as a Work of Art: an Existential Need for Creativity Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

09/28/2020

Gosetti-Ferencei (The Life of the Imagination), a philosophy professor at Johns Hopkins University, delivers a sharp, rewarding history of existentialist philosophy. She is keen to debunk the image many readers may have of existentialism: that of post-WWII Parisian cafés, black turtlenecks, and a kind of retreat from engagement with daily life. Instead, she argues, the philosophy encourages energetic, passionate engagement with daily life while at the same time acknowledging that the world can often be a little absurd. Gosetti-Ferencei starts with an excellent prologue that introduces existentialism as a philosophy that “swept the world of popular culture in the post-war period like no other philosophy in modern memory” thanks to its focus on “freedom, authenticity, and responsibility for our actions and values” based on subjective truth and the “capacity to evolve in the light of possibilities.” She then gives the reader a brief history of existentialism, comparing it to other major philosophies such as Platonism; existentialism “attacked the Platonic tradition for suppressing flux in favor of a more stable, Parmenidean vision of the universe.” To consider how existentialism can function in such everyday situations as romance or work, Gosetti-Ferencei recommends embracing “multiple roles in life” that are “authentically embodied.” Digestible summaries and ideas for practical application make this guide accessible to any philosophically minded reader. Even those well versed in existentialist thought will walk away from this with a new appreciation for the philosophy. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"On Being and Becoming not only offers help to those wanting to understand what existentialism was: it also makes a valuable contribution to showing what existentialism could mean for us today." — MLN

"In this deceptively easy to read book, Jennifer Gosetti-Ferencei packs three treatises in one: a smart introduction to continental philosophy, a brisk guide for living well and not dying stupid in an age of selfie-narcissism, and a new bridge between European and American culture linking Sartre with Kerouac, Rilke with Frost, de Beauvoir with Wright, Camus with Ellison, Heidegger with Du Bois, all asking the key question 'Why am I here?' The answer? You'll find it yourself in these pages." — Jean-Michel Rabaté, University of Pennsylvania, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

"On Being and Becoming is a timely book, as existentialism is an evocative response to the deep crises challenging our mortal and vulnerable existence. This book explores the existentialist answer to create our own meaning through our individual choices, not just in solitude but in engaged action seeking to transform the social world. The broad existential movement is sympathetically and accurately portrayed by Gosetti-Ferencei. This book is richly packed with insights and fluidly written for a general audience. It is not just a work of academic philosophy—discussing, among others, Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and Frantz Fanon—but it also documents the influence of existentialism on African-American thinkers, such as W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright." — Dermot Moran, Boston College

"Digestible summaries and ideas for practical application make this guide accessible to any philosophically minded reader. Even those well versed in existentialist thought will walk away from this with a new appreciation for the philosophy." —Publishers Weekly

"This small book weaves together a generous discussion of the history of philosophy and an erudite presentation of key themes of existentialism....Gosetti-Ferencei erases naïve formulations of existentialist themes and replaces them with rigorous, sometimes uplifting, accounts of freedom, responsibility, self-creation, and the inescapability of death. This work serves as both an excellent introduction to existentialist thought and a provocative read for those familiar with the works of such figures as Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, Martin Heidegger, Franz Kafka, Søren Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Richard Wright...Highly recommended." — Choice

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