Author(s): Gary Cox

Health & Self Help

This is a concise and humorous introduction to existentialism aimed squarely at a general readership - and available in paperback for the first time. "How to Be an Existentialist" is a concise, witty and entertaining book about the philosophy of existentialism. It is also a genuine self-help book offering clear advice on how to live according to the principles of existentialism formulated by Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus and the other great existentialist philosophers. An attack on contemporary excuse culture, the book urges us to face the hard existential truths of the human condition. It uncompromisingly counsels us to become tougher and more dignified, less grumbling and irresponsible, to stop chasing rainbows and making excuses and instead to get a grip and get real. By revealing that we are all inescapably free and responsible - 'condemned to be free', as Sartre says - the book aims to empower the reader with a sharp sense that we are each the master of our own destiny. Cox makes fun of the reputation existentialism has for being gloomy and pessimistic, exposing it for what it really is - an honest, uplifting and potentially life changing philosophy.