C. Daigle (ed.), Existentialist Thinkers and Ethics

DAIGLE, Christine (ed.),  Existentialist Thinkers and Ethics. A novel inquiry into the possibility and viability of existentialist ethics. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006, 200 p.

ISBN : 0773531068 (9780773531062)

Twentieth-century existential thinkers, critical of traditional, overly rationalistic approaches to ethics, sought to provide a better account of what it means to be human in the world. They articulated ethical views that respected the individual yet were fundamentally concerned with the Other and the ethical value of an authentic life. Their philosophy has often been dismissed as unsuccessful.
 
Through examination of the thought of eight key figures in existentialism - Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Arendt, Camus, Sartre, Beauvoir, and Merleau-Ponty - this collection demonstrates that such dismissals are unfounded. Contributors tackle the difficulties raised by an existentialist ethics and show how each thinker successfully elaborated an ethics that provides a viable alternative to traditional ethical views.
 
Contributors include Glenn Braddock (Skidmore College), Christine Daigle (Brock University), Dominic Desroches (Collège Rosemont), David W. Goldberg (Westminster College), Philip Knee (University of Ottawa), Todd Lavin (Clarion University), Kym MacLaren (North Arizona University), and Stephen Schulman (Elon University).

Christine Daigle is assistant professor, philosophy, Brock University and author of Le nihilisme est-il un humanisme? Étude sur Nietzsche et Sartre.

Table of Contents :

Introduction: The Problem of Ethics for Existentialism
CHRISTINE DAIGLE

1. The Exception as Reinforcement of the Ethical Norm: The Figures of Abraham and Job in Kierkegaard’s Ethical Thought
DOMINIC DESROCHES

2. A Nietzschean Solution to Ethical Relativism
DAVID W. GOLDBERG

3. The Politics of Authentic Existence
TODD LAVIN

4. Yes, She Is an Ethicist: Arendt, Responsibility, and Existentialism

STEPHEN SCHULMAN

5. Sartre on Atheism, Freedom, and Morality in The Humanism of Existentialism
GLENN BRADDOCK

6. An Ethics of Measure: Camus and Rousseau
PHILIP KNEE

7. The Ambiguous Ethics of Beauvoir
CHRISTINE DAIGLE

8. Merleau-Ponty’s Embodied Ethics: Rethinking Traditional Ethics
KYM MACLAREN

Conclusion: From the Ethical to the Political
CHRISTINE DAIGLE

Bibliography
Index