
Principles and Persons
An Ethical Interpretation of Existentialism
Frederick Olafson(Author)
Johns Hopkins University Press
Published on 26. January 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
278 pages
978-1-4214-3054-6 (ISBN)
Description
Originally published in 1967. Many critics have claimed that existentialism has not produced any ethics, as distinct from the moralistic assertions of its individual proponents. Challenging this view, Professor Olafson demonstrates that Sartre, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty indeed worked out a powerful ethical theory and that their positions must be understood as deriving from a voluntarist concept of moral autonomy that can be traced beyond Nietzsche and Kant to certain tendencies in late-medieval thought. He demonstrates that a broad parallelism exists between developments in ethical theory among Continental philosophers of the phenomenological persuasion and the more analytically inclined philosophers of the English-speaking world.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
459 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4214-3054-6 (9781421430546)
DOI
10.1353/book.67853
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2020
Johns Hopkins University Press
€34.49
Available for download
Book
11/1970
Johns Hopkins University Press
€29.90
Article not available for order
Book
09/1967
Johns Hopkins University Press
€49.12
Article not available for order
Person
Frederick A. Olafson was a professor of education and philosophy in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.
Content
Introduction
Part I. Historical
Chapter 1.The Intellectualistic Tradition
Chapter 2. Theological Voluntarism
Chapter 3. Philosophical Voluntarism: From Kant to Nietzsche
Chapter 4. The Emergence of Existentialism
Chapter 5. An Interpretation of Existentialism
Part II. Critical
Chapter 6. Action and Value
Chapter 7. Freedom and Choice
Chapter 8. Authenticity and Obligation
Chapter 9. The Significance of Existentialism
Part I. Historical
Chapter 1.The Intellectualistic Tradition
Chapter 2. Theological Voluntarism
Chapter 3. Philosophical Voluntarism: From Kant to Nietzsche
Chapter 4. The Emergence of Existentialism
Chapter 5. An Interpretation of Existentialism
Part II. Critical
Chapter 6. Action and Value
Chapter 7. Freedom and Choice
Chapter 8. Authenticity and Obligation
Chapter 9. The Significance of Existentialism