In Week 1 of our class, our main focus will be on setting ourselves up for a productive course of study of Existentialist philosophy and literature for the weeks to come.

We will be referencing the following texts (which you'll find in the module "Secondary Literature On Existentialism") You are not required to read these, but may find them interesting or useful.

• Alasdair MacIntyre - Existentialism encyclopedia entry
• Mikel Dufrenne - Existentialism and Existentialisms
• Paul Tillich - The Nature and the Significance of Existentialist Thought
• Robert C. Solomon - Existentialism, Emotions, and the Cultural Limits of Rationality
• John Wild - Existentialism as a Philosophy

Some of the key ideas we will be examining together are

• What "Existentialism" is or means, whether there is one key definition or not (and why there isn't)
• Philosophical, social and political, technological, and cultural backgrounds Existentialism emerges from
• Which authors are considered to be "existentialist" in some manner and what connects them together
• Common themes or concerns in Existentialist philosophy and literature
• How Existentialism develops as a loose movement over time