Basic Writings of Existentialism

Edited and with an Introduction by Gordon Marino

Basic Writings of Existentialism, unique to the Modern Library, presents the writings of key nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers broadly united by their belief that because life has no inherent meaning humans can discover, we must determine meaning for ourselves. This anthology brings together into one volume the most influential and commonly taught works of existentialism. Contributors include Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ralph Ellison, Martin Heidegger, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo.

Contents
INTRODUCTION by Gordon Marino ix
BASIC WRITINGS OF
EXISTENTIALISM

SØREN KIERKEGAARD
FEAR AND TREMBLING
Problema I 7
Problema II 24

THE SICKNESS UNTO DEATH
A. Despair Is the Sickness unto Death 41
B. The Universality of This Sickness (Despair) 51
C. The Forms of This Sickness (Despair) 58

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
ON THE GENEALOGY OF MORALS
First Essay: “Good and Evil,” “Good and Bad” 111
Second Essay: “Guilt,” “Bad Conscience,” and the Like 145

FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND
Part I: Underground 193
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
The Grand Inquisitor 231

MIGUEL DE UNAMUNO Y JUGO
SAINT MANUEL BUENO, MARTYR 257
viii . Contents

MARTIN HEIDEGGER
BEING AND TIME
The Possible Being-a-Whole of Da-sein and
Being-Toward-Death 299

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
EXISTENTIALISM 341
BEING AND NOTHINGNESS
Self-Negation 369
The Encounter with the Other 391

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
THE ETHICS OF AMBIGUITY
Ambiguity 413

ALBERT CAMUS
THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS
An Absurd Reasoning 441
The Myth of Sisyphus 489

RALPH ELLISON
INVISIBLE MAN

Prologue 495