Tragic Sense of Life

Key texts by the father of existentialism in Lee M. Hollander's classic translation, including Diapsalmata, In Vino Veritas and Fear and Trembling, with an introduction to his life and ideas.

Søren Kierkegaard

Nietzsche's most famous book follows the prophet Zarathustra as he announces the death of God and the coming of the Übermensch. Poetic, provocative and essential reading for understanding existentialism.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Also known as The Gay Science, this is the book where Nietzsche first declares that God is dead. Its aphorisms on truth, morality and living fully are a cornerstone of existentialist thought.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Sharp aphorisms against rationalism and rigid systems, with a foreword by D. H. Lawrence. Shestov defends doubt, freedom and the individual, ideas that later shaped Camus and the existentialists.

Lev Shestov

Stirner's radical defense of the individual rejects God, the state and every abstract ideal that tries to rule over the self. A provocative forerunner of existentialism, in Steven T. Byington's classic translation.

Max Stirner