(Part 2) Best existentialist philosophy books according to redditors

Existentialism and Human Emotions, by Sartre, is only 96 pages and quite an easy read. {ISBN-13: 978-0806509020} Existentialism and the Philosophical Tradition, [Raymond], gives a broad selection of thinkers throughout history, but it is pricey. {ISBN-13: 978-0132957755} Another approach would be texts that are not strictly philosophical yet present some existential points such as: The Plague, The Stranger, and The Rebel, all by Camus, Nausea by Sartre, Notes From Underground, by Dostoevsky, or Waiting For Godot by Beckett

Has anyone read Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America?

In the book, Ladelle McWhorter asks this question about the LGBTQ adoption of civil rights rhetoric and uses a Foucaultian genealogy to unpack the similarities and intersections between racial and sexual oppression.

I bring it up because, while I understand that co-option can sometimes undermine the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement, perhaps we are occasionally too quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater, you know? McWhorter makes the compelling case that racism, sexual oppression, ableism, and classism are all manifestations of the same underlying problem. Challenges to the rights of one group should frighten us all and that while co-option may appear to set up false equivalences, sometimes if you look closer it can illuminate similarities.

I'd really love to hear what you all think about this or whether you think it matters at all. Also, it's an awesome book despite it's title.

Sartre presented a lecture called "Existentialism and Humanism," which can now be found in print as Existentialism is a Humanism. It's almost like an Existentialism manefesto, per se. The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus is a good treatise on existentialism (Absurdism, really, but it'll do).

I would not hesitate to start reading fiction novels that have Existentialist themes. Camus' The Stranger, Sartre's Nausea, and Dostyevsky's Notes From the Underground are just a few that will find your studies well.

As for secondary literature, the only text I can knowledgeably recommend is Existentialism For Dummies, as I'm currently working my way through it. It's actually not as bad as you might think coming from the "For Dummies" series. It doesn't go too in-depth, and ideas are very concise and oftentimes humorous.

I have also heard good things about David Cogswell's Existentialism For Beginners, though I have never read it myself.

If your niece feels comfortable with this level of writing and philosophical examination, it is almost imperative to read Kierkegaard's Either/Or and Fear and Trembling, Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future, and Sartre's Being and Nothingness, among others. It is good to have some background understanding of Kant and perhaps have a few essays by Schopenhauer under your belt leading up to the more rigorous academics like Heidegger and Hegel.

Good luck, and happy reading!

http://www.amazon.com/Between-existentialism-Marxism-Jean-Sartre/dp/039448519X

For a good overview, I would recommend Blackham's Six Existentialist Thinkers, which provides brief introductions to Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Marcel, Heidegger, and Sartre - as well as a final, compelling defense of existentialist philosophy writ large.

Blackham's writing is clear and engaging, and he provides many passages from a variety of works from each of the philosophers he covers. This is one of my favorite reads.

On Amazon

Existentialism vs Marxism has an entire breakdown. It's a great book.

I highly reccomend "The Phenomenology Reader" edited by Dermot Moran and Timothy Mooney. It provides a nice overview of the trajectory of 20th century phenomenology and the provided excerpts are not too terribly truncated.

Here's the amazon link if you are interested:
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0415224225