The Blackwell Guide to Continental Philosophy

The Blackwell Guide to Continental Philosophy is an accessible but sophisticated introduction to the most important figures in continental philosophy in the past two hundred years. The newly–commissioned essays that comprise this book reflect the enormous diversity of authors, concerns, and styles encompassed by the continental tradition. Although the chapters stand on their own as comprehensive overviews of each subject, they also reveal how the thinkers presented in this volume are interconnected. They detail the ways in which these philosophers influenced one another and even explore some nasty rivalries. Among the figures and topics addressed are Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Marx, Nietzsche, Husserl and phenomenology, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau–Ponty, critical theory, Habermas, Gadamer, Foucault, Derrida, postmodernism, and French feminism.This book is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in continental philosophy.

Notes on Contributors. Introduction: Robert C. Solomon (University of Texas at Austin). 1. G. W. F. Hegel: The Phenomenology of Spirit: Stephen Houlgate (University of Warwick). 2. Arthur Schopenhauer: Noël Carroll (University of Wisconsin–Madison). 3. Soren Kierkegaard: David E. Cooper (University of Durham). 4. Karl Marx: Douglas Kellner (University of Califonia, Los Angeles). 5. Friedrich Nietzsche: Robert C. Solomon (University of Texas at Austin). 6. Edmund Husserl and Phenomenology: Sean Kelly (Princeton University). 7. Martin Heidegger: J. E. Malpas (University of Tasmania). 8. Jean–Paul Sartre: David Sherman (University of Montana, Missoula). 9. Critical Theory: David Sherman (University of Montana, Missoula). 10. Jurgen Habermas and Hans–Georg Gadamer: David Ingram (Loyola University of Chicago). 11. Michel Foucault: Robert Wicks (University of Auckland). 12. Jacques Derrida: John Coker (University of Southern Alabama). 13. Postmodernism: Steven Best (University of Texas at El Paso) and Douglas Kellner (University of Califonia, Los Angeles). 14. French Feminism: Mary Beth Mader (University of Memphis) and Kelly Oliver (State University of New York at Stony Brook). Conclusion: What Now for Continental Philosophy?: Robert C. Solomon (University of Texas at Austin). Index.

Robert C. Solomon is Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Business and Philosophy and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of more than thirty books, including From Rationalism to Existentialism (1978), In the Spirit of Hegel (1985), From Hegel to Existentialism (1990),and What Nietzsche Really Said (with Kathleen M. Higgins, 2000). David Sherman is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Montana–Missoula. He is the author of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Self–Consciousness (with Leo Rauch, 1999) and articles on Adorno, Sartre, Aristotle, and Camus.

‘A surprisingly accessible and helpful collection of essays that work well together as a ′guide′ to a much maligned but rich and important part of the history of modern philosophy. The introductions they provide to many of continental philosophy’s leading lights show that good and interesting sense can be made even of the most daunting of them. Any serious student (or teacher!) of philosophy should understand at least this much of this period and these figures.’ Richard Schacht, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign <!––end––> "Solomon and Sherman have assembled a top–quality team of contributors for this interesting volume. This is a guide for the perplexed which should help students, general readers, and analytically–trained philosophers find their separate ways in the continental philosophy tradition." Simon Critchley, University of Essex