Existentialism is a unique type of philosophy. Prototypically Postmodern, Existentialism is fragmented and rebellious, concerned with authenticity and freedom. Michael Allen Fox has written a reliable guide to Existentialism by focusing on the key figures of the movement.

Fox is professor emeritus of philosophy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and it shows. The Remarkable Existentialists reads like the book version of the author’s university course on Existentialism, not unlike Victor Shepherd’s The Committed Self on a similar theme. (Fun fact: My copy, which I purchased at a second hand bookstore in Kingston is personally signed to “For Carlos, with warm best wishes.”)

Five figures receive detailed treatment in Fox’s work: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, and De Beauvoir. Of these five, De Beauvoir was the only thinker I had not been introduced to in any detail before. Fox carefully explores her concept of Ambiguity, noting how her vision differs from her more famous partner, Sartre.

A great feature of this book is chapter 5, “A Brief Look at Phenomenology.” Fox shows how phenomenology fits with Existentialism by highlighting the “unfinished character of human existence” (144).

The Remarkable Existentialists is not an easy book to read, but neither is it needlessly dense. Those with some background in philosophy will find it illuminating.

Fox, Michael Allen. The Remarkable Existentialists. Prometheus Books, 2009.