Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre

“Existentialism is not a school of thought nor reducible to any set of tenets. The three writers who appear invariably on every list of ‘existentialists’ -Jaspers, Heidegger, and Sartre-are not in agreement on essentials. Such alleged precursors.as Pascal and Kierkegaard differed from all three men by being dedicated Christians; and Pascal was a Catholic of sorts, while Kierkegaard was a Protestant’s Protestant.

“If, as is often done, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky are included in the fold, we must make room for an impassioned anti-Christian and an even more fanatical Greek-Orthodox Russian imperialist. By the time we consider adding Rilke, Kafka, Ortega, and Camus, it becomes plain that one essential feature shared by all these men is their perfervid individualism.

“The refusal to belong to any school of thought, the repudiation of the adequacy of any body of beliefs whatever, and especially of systems, and a marked dissatisfaction with traditional philosophy as superficial, academic, and remote from life —that is the heart of existentialism.”

-Walter Kaufmann

This volume provides basic writings of Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Rilke, Kafka, ‘Ortega, Jaspers, Heidegger, Sartre and Camus, including some not previously translated, along with an invaluable introductory essay by Walter Kaufmann.