- Hardcover: 144 pages
- Publisher: Continuum Publishing Corporation (2 Sep 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1441188436
- ISBN-13: 978-1441188434
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.4 x 1.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 163,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
Title mention in Creative Review, January 2010
Review
"Think of it as a serious self-help book for the perplexed... an absorbing book... I found it a stimulating read, which forced me to rethink some of my current perceptions.' (LeaderValues) 'An instructive, witty and entertaining guide to existentialism' (Good Book Guide)"
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have long described myself as an existentialist. I still do. Existentialism indirectly informs my approach to coaching and my development work with managers, leaders and executive teams. Here at last is a book explaining, even to me, what I have always meant! Often mistakenly thought to be pessimistic or even negative (perhaps because of the central notion that to continue to live is seen as a choice not to end it all), existentialism is in fact a liberating and positive philosophy which informs self development, choice and individual freedom. Instead of a 'handful of certainty', Nietzsche argues that existentialism offers a 'cartful of beautiful possibilities'. Adversity is also seen in a positive light, sustaining action, as Simone de Beauvoir says, 'like air sustains the flight of the dove'. Death is only the ultimate destination because there is no more 'future' to strive toward, and striving toward the future we currently lack is imperative to life. (Although one needn't be an atheist; neither Dostoevsky or Kierkegaard were). The existential truth is that we must all continually create ourselves through choice and action. Put simply, the authentic existentialist must want to be what they make themselves by how they choose to act, rather than make excuses for the way they act and regretting it. How's that for a guiding mantra of self development? Or, as the subtitle to the book puts it, existentialism shows the way to get real, get a grip and stop making excuses. Gary Cox has written the book I'd have loved to have written. But I have no regrets, after all, I chose not to write a book on existentialism! Instead I chose to read Gary Cox's book and wholeheartedly recommend you do the same...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I received my copy of this book about four weeks ago and have just finished reading it for the second time. I'm not normally a philosophy buff, nor has it inspired me to start wading into the works of Sartre, Nietzsche, Camus and the others, but this is certainly a very accessible introduction to existentialism. Having said that some of it took a bit of careful reading before I started to understand and some of it I am still struggling with.
I didn't know what existentialism was, but as I read I realised that it struck a chord with me. In fact I found it to be in line with a lot of present day attitudes. It seems that Bugs Bunny and the humour of Monty Python are essentially existentialist!
Such ideas also seem, however unintentionally, to form the basis of many of the `self help' books you see around, such as the need to choose your response to situations (rather than just reacting) and taking responsibility for those choices.
The only downside is that I found some of the sentences a bit difficult to interpret in the sense that I couldn't immediately see what the author was trying to say. Nevertheless, I've put Gary Cox's other book "How to be a Philosopher" on my Christmas list.
I didn't know what existentialism was, but as I read I realised that it struck a chord with me. In fact I found it to be in line with a lot of present day attitudes. It seems that Bugs Bunny and the humour of Monty Python are essentially existentialist!
Such ideas also seem, however unintentionally, to form the basis of many of the `self help' books you see around, such as the need to choose your response to situations (rather than just reacting) and taking responsibility for those choices.
The only downside is that I found some of the sentences a bit difficult to interpret in the sense that I couldn't immediately see what the author was trying to say. Nevertheless, I've put Gary Cox's other book "How to be a Philosopher" on my Christmas list.
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This could have been a truly uplifting, intriguing and informative book. It isn't simply because the author cannot make up his mind what sort of a book it should be: an explication of the fundamental tenets and implications of existentialism, a DIY manual of self-improvement or a comic look at the lighter side of existentialism - one of those 'Beginner's Guides' kinds without the graphics.
In this context, the long and rather crass title and subtitle does not help. Indeed, in view of the superior academic quality of some of the text, it is clearly misleading.
The book reviews existentialism, its theories, its origins, its authors - and it does this, for the most part in the first half of the book, in an exemplary manner with scholarship and reasonably good concision.
However, after halfway through the book, there is a dramatic change in style and the author starts to ramble with no good reason and then plunges into what becomes almost an impenetrable text. He does not fully explain the technical terms he uses but, instead, repeats and re-repeats these somewhat clichéd phrases, perhaps in the hope that if he repeats them enough, their meanings will be revealed. They aren't.
This is a hopelessly verbose book written in a circumlocutory style with good intentions and sufficient knowledge but it urgently requires a valiant and committed editor.
Perhaps, the author should identify what sort of readership he is addressing. Or would that limit his choice and thus open him up to critical opinions of bad faith?
The book is definitely worth reading.
In this context, the long and rather crass title and subtitle does not help. Indeed, in view of the superior academic quality of some of the text, it is clearly misleading.
The book reviews existentialism, its theories, its origins, its authors - and it does this, for the most part in the first half of the book, in an exemplary manner with scholarship and reasonably good concision.
However, after halfway through the book, there is a dramatic change in style and the author starts to ramble with no good reason and then plunges into what becomes almost an impenetrable text. He does not fully explain the technical terms he uses but, instead, repeats and re-repeats these somewhat clichéd phrases, perhaps in the hope that if he repeats them enough, their meanings will be revealed. They aren't.
This is a hopelessly verbose book written in a circumlocutory style with good intentions and sufficient knowledge but it urgently requires a valiant and committed editor.
Perhaps, the author should identify what sort of readership he is addressing. Or would that limit his choice and thus open him up to critical opinions of bad faith?
The book is definitely worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
What does it want to Be?
Cox shoehorns a lot of learning into this book (his PhD was on Sartre), but it comes at a price. There's too much crammed into too small a space, which doesn't have room to clearly... Read more
Published 23 days ago by Parthurbook
I'm alright Jack.
If you like Bernard Manning you'll love this book. If you like the welfare state you'll hate this book. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Sven Gally
The Hitchhikers guide to Phenomonology
I found Gary Cox book an extremely erudite read. Nothing within could be described as arrid, on the contrary, Cox explains his take on 'consciousness' in a very understandable and... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Monk
how to live my life? ... this has all the answers
this book has quite literally, in the space of its 113 pages, changed my life!!
existentialism as a concept is surrounded by mystery. Read more
existentialism as a concept is surrounded by mystery. Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2010 by Sian Eleanor
Sartre for kids
This book does a good job in explaining some of the concepts in Being and Nothingness. In particular, Cox's explanation of Sartre's theory of être-pour-autrui (pages 36-44) is... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2010 by Alessandro
You will like it is you liked the Matrix
This is the first and probably the last book on existentialism I have read, and other than a short bit in a psychology course, which I didn't understand or thought was very useful... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by Mr. P. G. Chesters
A lot more readable than Satre.
This is an interesting and accessable book which offers practical advice on how you can alter your life by taking responsibility for the decisions you make. Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by Molehill
a guide for living
I was alerted to this book following its excellent review in The Guardian, and was keen to get hold of a copy, as I'd read and enjoyed Cox's earlier book on Sartre (the Guide for... Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2009 by Gavin T. Smith
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