Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
In the late 19th century, Europe was in a period of transformation. Countries found themselves moving away from monarchal rule to democratic rule. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection had shaken the foundations of theology and of the origin of the human species and taken hold in the minds of the intelligentsia; trains now stretched from France to Germany and all around Europe; the Church was experiencing a decline in political power, under threat from the new scientific innovations spreading across the continent; everywhere one looked, one saw signs of an ever increasing rate of change that would come to be the norm in the 20th and 21st centuries…
On Suicide and the Monopoly of Suffering - A Reading from Emil Cioran
What drives people to suicide? What is the experience of someone considering suicide? There is an epidemic of suicide in the United States right now, especially among young men, so any understanding one can glean about suicide is important to discuss, especially if it might help prevent a suicide.
Becoming Beauvoir: A Review
Simone de Beauvoir became a force de jour in French existentialist philosophy, and has inherited an (in)famous reputation, depending on who you speak with. As the longtime friend and lover of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), she made many waves in the culture…