The Terror of Existence: From Ecclesiastes to Theatre of the Absurd - Softcover

Theodore Dalrymple; Kenneth Francis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 194300322X ISBN 13: 9781943003228

Publisher: New English Review Press, 2018

Synopsis

The cultural death of God has created a conundrum for intellectuals. How could a life stripped of ultimate meaning be anything but absurd? How was man to live? How could he find direction in a world of no direction? What would he tell his children that could make their lives worthwhile? What is the ground of morality?

Existentialism is the literary cri de coeur resulting from the realization that without God, everything good, true and beautiful in human life is destined to be destroyed in a pitiless material cosmos. Theodore Dalrymple and Kenneth Francis examine the main existentialist works, from Ecclesiastes to the Theatre of the Absurd, each man coming from a different perspective. Francis is a believer, Dalrymple is not, but both empathize with the struggle to find meaning in a seemingly meaningless universe.

Part literary criticism, part philosophical exploration, this book holds many surprising gems of insight from two of the most interesting minds of our time.

About this title

About the Author:

Theodore Dalrymple is a Senior Editor at New English Review and is a former prison doctor and psychiatrist. He is also the author of more than two dozen books, innumerable essays, short stories and literary criticism.

Kenneth Francis is a Contributing Editor at New English Review. For the past 20 years, he has worked as an editor in various publications, as well as a university lecturer in journalism. He also holds an MA in Theology and is also the author of The Little Book of God, Mind, Cosmos and Truth.

About this edition

• Publisher: New English Review Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 194300322X
• ISBN 13: 9781943003228
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 158