Sign in

Rethinking Existentialism

@rethinkexistent.bsky.social
183 followers 55 following 78 posts

. The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy: bit.ly/PBEPBwlPbk . Rethinking Existentialism: bit.ly/RethExistBwlPbk

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
The International Simone de Beauvoir Society @beauvoirsociety.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
CALL for Abstracts - 2027 Conference [En] SUBJECTIVITY, COLONIALITY, AND PLACE 🗓MAY 21–23, 2027 📍UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, ALBUQUERQUE, NM *Proposals are due by December 1, 2026.* beauvoir.weebly.com/2027-confere...
054
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
#philsky #booksky #bristol @stgeorgesbris.bsky.social at St George's Bristol on World Philosophy Day 2026 –– Philosophy Salon: Existentialism as Therapy? Julian Baggini with Emmy van Duerzen and Jonathan Webber Thursday 19 November, 7.30pm Full details: bit.ly/PSEAT
Cover of Emmy van Deurzen's new book, Beginning to Live: The Art of Existential Freedom.Cover of The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy, edited by Jonathan Webber
061
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Anneli Jefferson @annelijefferson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Spotted in the wild! (at big Gower Street Waterstones) @jonathanwebber.bsky.social #philsky
The Penguin Book of Existential Philosophy on a Waterstone's book table
1101
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Jonathan Webber @jonathanwebber.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
#philsky #booksky ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Coming soon ... ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ @routledgebooks.bsky.social
Cover of the forthcoming Routledge book Existentialism: The Basics by Jonathan Webber. Cover image is a photo of a Parisian café in a classic Hausmann block with street chairs and tables. Photo includes the floor above the café, largely obscured by the series' signature hole/ball with the title and author name in, then above it some of the next floor with wrought iron juliette balconies.
13613
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
UK Sartre Society @uksartresociety.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
#philsky Out now! Special issue of Film–Philosophy on existentialism 17 original papers plus an introduction www.euppublishing.com/toc/film/30/...
euppublishing.com
Edinburgh University Press Journals - Table of Contents - film: Vol 30, No 2-3
133
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Past Present Future Podcast @ppfideas.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
BONUS EPISODE OUT NOW! In today’s PPF+ bonus David talks to philosopher & biographer @philosofemme.bsky.social about the life & thought of Simone de Beauvoir. How was Beauvoir shaped by her childhood & was she a reliable narrator of her own history? Join PPF+ now: www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
0123
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Past Present Future Podcast @ppfideas.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW! In today’s episode exploring how 20th-century philosophy and biography intersect David talks to philosopher and biographer @philosofemme.bsky.social about Jean-Paul Sartre, a thinker whose life has been as closely scrutinised as his ideas. Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
297
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Five Books - Expert Book Recommendations @fivebooks.com · 17/08/2026
"Some people wouldn’t even see a biography as a philosophy book but, for me, I do like to understand thinkers in their context." fivebooks.com/best-books/p...
fivebooks.com
The Best Philosophy Books of 2019
The best philosophy books of 2019, as recommended by British philosopher and Five Books philosophy editor Nigel Warburton.
071
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Spotted at (and bought from) Simone de Beauvoir's favourite (English language) bookshop! @shakespeareandcompany.com
A copy of The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy held up outside the legendary Shakespeare & Company bookshop in central Paris.
051
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
#philsky #booksky ✨✨ The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy is now published in North America! ✨✨ here are some of the things people have said about it ...
penguinrandomhouse.com
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy: 9780241645413 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A powerful new anthology that redefines ourunderstanding of existentialism and argues for itscontemporary relevance A Penguin Classic In the aftermath of the Second World War, a group of intellectua...
1126
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'This excellent anthology is an invaluable resource for anyone teaching or studying existentialism at university level.' –– Dr Juliana de Albuquerque, University College Cork
000
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'This well-curated collection offers a clear pathway from existentialism’s origins to the full range of its philosophical implications. An ideal introduction to the existentialist tradition.' –– Professor Henry Somers-Hall, Royal Holloway, University of London
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'Jonathan Webber has done an excellent job of introducing the existentialist writers in a way that points to their relevance to contemporary issues and dilemmas. I was happy to discover the inclusion of Freud among the inspirations.' –– Dr Betty Cannon, founder of Applied Existential Psychotherapy
110
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'this expertly curated volume promises to improve how we understand existentialism.  This is the most thoughtfully organized collection of existential texts currently available.' –– Professor Matthew C. Eshleman, University of North Carolina Wilmington
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'At a time when existentialist thought is overdiluted to include old and new fads, this anthology re-captures existentialism's core values and actively adapts them to the challenges of the present.' –– Dr Manu Bazzano, author and existential psychotherapist
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'These are precisely the extracts to which anyone curious about existentialism should turn first — and which few who have encountered these ideas are able to forget.' –– Dr Jessie Stanier, University of the West of England
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'The existentialists are some of philosophy's best loved and most read figures. With expertly chosen selections this new anthology does a perfect job curating their thought for a new generation of readers. An indispensable resource.' –– Dr Jacob McNulty, Yale University
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'Existentialism is a vital philosophy that still has the potential to change the world for the better. This essential collection gives access to foundational texts that will inspire new ways of thinking.' –– Dr David Sorfa, University of Edinburgh
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'An excellent selection of materials to introduce the reader to existentialism, with Jonathan Webber's introductions providing a fine guide to this important body of thought.' –– Professor Sonia Kruks, Oberlin College
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'for a general reader it’s wonderful to have this range of existentialist writings in a single affordable volume' – Nigel Warburton (@nigelwarburton.bsky.social), author of A Little History of Philosophy (among many other things); at Five Books (@fivebooks.com)
110
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
'Superb ... I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
#philsky #booksky ✨✨ The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy is now published in North America! ✨✨ here are some of the things people have said about it ...
penguinrandomhouse.com
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy: 9780241645413 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A powerful new anthology that redefines ourunderstanding of existentialism and argues for itscontemporary relevance A Penguin Classic In the aftermath of the Second World War, a group of intellectua...
1126
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
British Society for Phenomenology @thebsp.org.uk · 07/06/2026
UK Sartre Society 2026: Keynote Address titles and full information 1–2 July, Maison Française d'Oxford. Keynote Addresses from Jane Hiddleston, Marguerite La Caze, & Mark Wrathall - plus 28 selected papers. www.thebsp.org.uk/2026/06/07/u...
044
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
UK Sartre Society @uksartresociety.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Keynote Addresses for this year's conference: Negritude and Ecology in Sartre, Fanon, and Césaire – Jane Hiddleston (Oxford) Will We Make It? Beauvoir and Jeunes Mères – Marguerite La Caze (Queensland) Ontological Pluralism in Sartre and Heidegger – Mark Wrathall (Oxford) 1–2 July in Oxford ...
152
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
UK Sartre Society @uksartresociety.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
plus 28 selected papers! Hosted by Maison Française d'Oxford in their beautiful building (@mfoxford.bsky.social) Full details: bit.ly/UKSS2026
Photograph of the outside of Maison Française d'Oxford and some of its garden in the sunshine with the flag of France fluttering in the summer breeze from a flagpole on the roof.
021
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
I still have a book of yours on Camus which I hope you will come and collect.
81199
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Prof Emmy van Deurzen @emmyvandeurzen.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
My interview with the Guardian on the publication of my first book for a wider audience is in the books section today. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m... ‘One of the most profound encounters of my life’: could existential therapist Emmy van Deurzen change the way you think?
theguardian.com
‘One of the most profound encounters of my life’: could existential therapist Emmy van Deurzen change the way you think?
Her philosophical approach to therapy has become a global phenomenon, and inspired a new book. Could a session with her change Sophie McBain’s life?
3146
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
UK Sartre Society @uksartresociety.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
UK Sartre Society conference 2026 Maison Française d'Oxford :: 1 – 2 July Keynote Speakers –– Jane Hiddleston (Oxford) Marguerite La Caze (Queensland) Mark Wrathall (Oxford) :: Registration is now open! :: Full details: www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...
Light box with cinema sign style text reading: EXISTENCE PRECEDES ESSENCE
031
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Kate Kirkpatrick @philosofemme.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Parution aujourd'hui : Écrits et paroles féministes de Simone de Beauvoir
Book cover of Simone de Beauvoir, Une fois que les femmes ont ouvert les yeux. Écrits et paroles féministes, 1947–1985
1105
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
“If truth be told, one is not born, but becomes, a genius; and the feminine condition has, until now, rendered this becoming impossible.” - Happy 118th birthday, Simone de Beauvoir!
Black-and-white photo of Simone de Beauvoir signing books at a desk and surrounded by women holding books for her to sign.
021
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Joyeaux Noël !
Photo of Beauvoir and Sartre in a bar with Santa hats poorly grafted onto Beauvoir's head and the head of a woman in the foreground. Sartre looks like he is trying to take her hat. Beauvoir is drinking something.
0134
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
It is in The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy under the title ‘Literature and Metaphysics’.
penguin.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
'Superb ... I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café ‘We are thrown into the world at every moment, and...
010
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Beauvoir’s lecture was at the same venue as Sartre’s famously chaotic event six weeks earlier, but seems to have been rather calmer. A written version was later published in Les Temps Modernes issue 7 (April 1946).
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
11 December 1945: Beauvoir gave a lecture titled ‘Roman et métaphysique’ at Club Maintenant in Paris. Beauvoir argued that novels can provide richer and more nuanced metaphysical visions of human reality than is possible using the skeletal abstractions of philosophical prose.
100
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
7 December 1945: Beauvoir’s play Les Bouches Inutiles, which had been first performed on 29 October, is published. An English translation is available as The Useless Mouths.
Cover of first edition.

Blank white cover with centred text:

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

LES BOUCHES
INUTILES
pièce en deux actes
et huit tableaux


nrf


GALLIMARD
Front cover of the "The Useless Mouths" and Other Literary Writings, by Simone de Beauvoir. Edited by Margaret A. Simons and Marybeth Timmerman. Foreword by Sylvie Le Bon de Beauvoir. Published by University of Illinois Press.
010
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
2 December 1945: Sartre publishes the second novel in his series Les Chemins de la Liberté –– Le Sursis is set during ‘the phoney war’ of September 1939 to March 1940, after the war was declared but before the fighting had begun. An English translation is available from Penguin as The Reprieve.
Cover of first edition.

Blank white cover with centred text:

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE

Les chemins de la liberté
II
Le sursis
roman


nrf


GALLIMARD
Cover of current Penguin Modern Classics edition of the English translation – The Reprieve
051
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Translations of both articles — as ‘Existentialism and Popular Wisdom’ and ‘Portrait of the Anti-Semite’ — are at the centre of The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy.
penguin.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
'Superb ... I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café ‘We are thrown into the world at every moment, and...
000
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
1 December 1945: Les Temps Modernes issue 3 is published. Beauvoir’s ‘L’existentialisme et la sagesse des nations’ – by far the best short introduction to existentialism ever published – is the lead article. Sartre’s highly influential ‘Portrait de l’antisémite’ is in the same issue.
Cover of the third issue of Les Temps Modernes.

Blank white page with the following column of centred text:

Les Temps
Modernes

1re année    REVUE MENSUELLE    n° 3

1er Décembre 1945


SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR. - L'existentialisme et la sagesse 
des nations.
JEAN GENÊT. - Pompes funèbres.
RENÉ LEIBOWITZ. - Prolégomènes à la musique 
contemporaine (fin).
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE. — Portrait de l'antisémite.
NATHALIE MOFFAT. - Nuits sans importance.
DOMMARCHI. — Sir William Beveridge et le destin du 
néo-libéralisme anglais.
TÉMOIGNAGES
UNGER. - Sélection.
VIOLETTE LEDUC. - Le dézingage
VIES
Vie d'un bourgeois français, magistrat israélite.
EXPOSÉS
IVAN MOFFAT, PIERRE BERGER, ALBERT OLLIVIER.

TM
Rédaction, administration : 5, rue Sébastien-Bottin, ParisPage 25 of Les Temps Modernes issue 3 – first page of Beauvoir's essay ‘L’existentialisme et la sagesse des nations’.Page 455 of Les Temps Modernes issue 3 – a page of Sartre's essay ‘Portrait de l’antisémite’.
132
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Jonathan Webber @jonathanwebber.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
#philsky 30-minute interview with me on Dublin City FM about The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy ::
mixcloud.com
065
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
(Newspaper image from gallica.bnf.fr) 80 years later the full article becomes available in English for the first time in The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy.
penguin.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
'Superb ... I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café ‘We are thrown into the world at every moment, an...
020
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
15 November 1945: An interview with Camus appears on the front page of Les Nouvelle’s Littéraires headlined: ‘NON, je ne suis pas existentialiste’, nous dit ALBERT CAMUS
Original front cover of the newspaper
151
Reposted by Rethinking Existentialism
Jonathan Webber @jonathanwebber.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
✨✨ The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy edited by me is published today in the UK! (Australia and North America publication is next February.) ✨✨
penguin.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
'Superb ... I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café ‘We are thrown into the world at every moment, an...
04114
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
1 November 1945: Issue 2 of Les Temps Modernes is published Beauvoir’s essay ‘Idéalisme moral et réalisme politique’ addresses a theme of her novel La Sang des Autres and her play Les Bouches Inutiles – the place of morality in political action and the foundational value of each person’s freedom
Cover of the second issue of Les Temps Modernes.

Blank white page with the following column of centred text:

Les Temps
Modernes

1re année    REVUE MENSUELLE    n° 2

1er Novembre 1945

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE. - La nationalisation de la littérature.
VIOLETTE LEDUC. - Une mère, un parapluie, des gants.
RAYMOND ARON. - La chance du socialisme.
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR. - Idéalisme moral et réalisme polltique.
RENÉ LEIBOWITZ. - Prolégomènes à la musique contemporaine.
RICHARD WRIGHT. - Le feu dans la nuée (fin).
TÉMOIGNAGES
LÉON AREGA. - Évasion.
VIES
Vie d'un Juif.
EXPOSÉS
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY, CLAUDE LEFORT
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, PONTALIS.
VARIETES
SCIPION, PONTALIS.

TM
Rédaction, administration: 5, rue Sébastien-Bottin, ParisPage 259 of Les Temps Modernes issue 2 – a page of Beauvoir's essay ‘Idéalisme moral et réalisme politique’.
041
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Olga is also the inspiration for the character Ivich in Sartre’s Roads To Freedom novels. She had made her theatrical debut two years earlier as Electra in Sartre’s play The Flies. Getty Images also has this rather striking photo of her in The Flies, though dated to 1951 ––
gettyimages.co.uk
Olga Dominique in "Les Mouches" of Jean-Paul Sartre. Production :...
Olga Dominique in "Les Mouches" of Jean-Paul Sartre. Production : Raymond Hermantier. Paris, theatre of Vieux-Colombier, January 1951.
010
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
One of the characters was played by Olga Dominique (née Kosakiewicz). She and her sister Wanda are the inspiration for the character Xavière in Beauvoir’s novel L’Invitée (She Came To Stay). Getty Images has a publicity photo for the original production featuring her and Jean Berger ––
gettyimages.in
Olga Dominique and Jean Berger in "Les Bouches inutiles" of Simone de...
Olga Dominique and Jean Berger in "Les Bouches inutiles" of Simone de Beauvoir. Production of Michel Vitold. Paris, theatre of Carrefours, october 1945.
110
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
In a besieged medieval town faced with starvation, the (all male) council decide that food should be reserved for soldiers and workers — so denied to women, children, and elderly men. It is Beauvoir’s only play.
110
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
29 October 1945: Premiere performance of Beauvoir’s play Les Bouches Inutiles (aka Useless Mouths or Who Shall Die) at Théâtre des Carrefours (now Théâtre des Bouffes-du-Nord) by Gare du Nord in Paris.
130
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
For this reason, The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy does not include this confusing attempt to introduce existentialism. It has instead Beauvoir’s much more coherent and focused essay ‘Existentialism and Popular Wisdom’, published just a few weeks after Sartre’s lecture took place.
penguin.co.uk
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
'Superb ... I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café ‘We are thrown into the world at every moment, an...
020
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Sartre regretted publishing it. The book is overly technical in some places, under-motivated in others, and clearly inconsistent overall. It is not much less chaotic than the circumstances it was composed in.
110
Rethinking Existentialism @rethinkexistent.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Even so, someone managed to take comprehensive notes, which were edited into a transcript. The resulting publication became one of the best selling and most widely translated philosophy books of the twentieth century -- its most recent English title is Existentialism Is a Humanism.
120