A New York Times "Ten Best Books of 2016"From the best-selling author of How to Live; a spirited account of one of the twentieth century’s major intellectual movements and the revolutionary thinkers who came to shape it Paris; 1933: three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre; Simone de Beauvoir; and longtime friend Raymond Aron; a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called Phenomenology. “You see;†he says; “if you are a phenomenologist you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!†It was this simple phrase that would ignite a movement; inspiring Sartre to integrate Phenomenology into his own French; humanistic sensibility; thereby creating an entirely new philosophical approach inspired by themes of radical freedom; authentic being; and political activism. This movement would sweep through the jazz clubs and cafés of the Left Bank before making its way across the world as Existentialism. Featuring not only philosophers; but also playwrights; anthropologists; convicts; and revolutionaries; At the Existentialist Café follows the existentialists’ story; from the first rebellious spark through the Second World War; to its role in postwar liberation movements such as anticolonialism; feminism; and gay rights. Interweaving biography and philosophy; it is the epic account of passionate encounters—fights; love affairs; mentorships; rebellions; and long partnerships—and a vital investigation into what the existentialists have to offer us today; at a moment when we are once again confronting the major questions of freedom; global responsibility; and human authenticity in a fractious and technology-driven world.
#2713670 in Books Taylor Trade Publishing 2005-03-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.68 x .64 x 6.30l; .75 #File Name: 1589791835260 pages
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