From Rationalism to Existentialism

In this text, philosopher Robert Solomon provides students with an introduction to modern existentialism. He shows how this philosophy not only connects with, but derives from the thought of traditional philosophers such as Kant and Hegel. From there, Solomon traces its development through the works of Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty. Thus, existentialism emerges from the school of rational thought as a logical evolution of respected philosophy.