The Challenge of Existentialism

Professor Wild taught philosophy for 34 years at Harvard and for another six at Yale. 'The Challenge of Existentialism' is a foundational work in the American treatment of the subject despite being as much a treatise as a thesis.. “Professor Wild’s book [is] a ‘must’ to all professional philosophers, and for that matter to any literate reader who wants to know about some of the most vital ideas in contemporary philosophy.”—William Barrett in The Saturday Review of Literature. CONTENTSIntroductionI The Breakdown of Modern Philosophy PHENOMENOLOGY METAPHYSICS EPISTEMOLOGY AND LOGIC ETHICS CONCLUSIONII Sӧren Kierkegaard THE DESCRIPTIVE METHOD (PHENOMENOLOGY) ESSENCE VS. EXISTENCE PRACTICAL AWARENESS AND THE FEELING OF DREAD ETHICS AND THE EXISTING PERSON Descriptive Ethics Good and Evil as Existential Categories Freedom and the Masses THE BACKGROUND OF EXISTENTIALISMIII The New Empiricism and Ontology THE NEW EMPIRICISM THE REVIVAL OF ONTOLOGY Existential Protocols: Essence and Existence Existential Vectors Truth as Identity The Existential Theory of Good and Evil Contradiction and Contingency Potency and Change Human Ontology: Human Existence Being-in-the-World With-Others Boundary Situations DeathCONCLUSIONIV Human Awareness and Action HUMAN AWARENESS Mood and Feeling Projective Understanding Sartre’s Theory of Awareness Logic as Grounded on Being HUMAN ACTION The Feeling of Dread Care A New Theory of Time: Time as a Now-Succession Time as Ecstatic Existence Explanation of the Accepted View History: History as a Stream Human Existence as History The Accepted View as UnauthenticV Existentialist Ethics: Integrity and Decision HUMAN DECISION AND FREEDOM Death and Human Integrity Conscience and Guilt Projective Decision AUTHENTIC VS. UNAUTHENTIC EXISTENCE Being-in-the-World Being-with-Others Boundary situations: Situationality Other Boundary Situations Guilt Death Awareness Care Time HistoryVI Existentialism as a Philosophy KARL JASPERS JEAN-PAUL SARTRE GABRIEL MARCEL MARTIN HEIDEGGER SOME WEAKNESSES OF EXISTENTIALIST THOUGHT Method Metaphysics Epistemology Ethics CONCLUSIONVII Realistic Phenomenology and Metaphysics PHENOMENOLOGY EXISTENTIAL DESCRIPTION PHENOMENOLOGY AS A THEORETICAL (NOT A PRACTICAL) DISCIPLINE DESCRIPTION, INFERENCE, AND EXPLANATION IN PHILOSOPHY METAPHYSICAL PROTOCOLS The Ontology of Man Weaknesses in the Existentialist Ontology: The Neglect of Theoretical Cognition and Essence All Insight as Projective The Rejection of Reason and Explanation Being-in-the-World: Theoretical Clarification of Projective World Horizons The Human vs. The Cosmic World Being-With: The Failure to Account for Communication Towards a Realistic Theory of Communication Boundary Situations: Three Mistakes Requiring Correction Situationality Chance Struggle Suffering Guilt DeathVIII Philosophical Anthropology HUMAN AWARENESS, A REALISTIC VIEW Cognitive Being How Do We Know Existence? Practical Awareness Theory A Humane and Realistic Logic CARE New Light on Human Action The Self as Subject and Object TIME AND HISTORY Human Time and World Time The Intentionality of Human Time The Historicity of ManIX Realistic Ethics EXISTENTIALIST ETHICS AND NATURAL LAW Essentialism and Existentialism in Ethics Classical Ethics Existential Norms The Possibility of a Realistic Synthesis The Ethics of the Future. Notes: I II III IV V VI VII VIII IXBibliographyIndex