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eBook/Digital Version available from:
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Score: 91 |
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| Existential Selves: Freedom, Chaos and the Search for Meaning |
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ISBN: 978-3032113375,
242 pages,
Hard Cover
ISBN-10: 3032113377 |
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| Copyright: |
2026 |
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| Edition: |
1st |
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| Editor: |
Scott, Susie; Hardie-Bick, James |
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Specialties:
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Medicolegal Issues |
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| Publisher: |
Springer |
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| Imprint: |
Palgrave Macmillan |
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| List Price: |
$159.99 |
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| Google: |
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At A Glance
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This volume draws on existentialist ideas from philosophy, psychology and sociology to explore some intriguing questions. How do good people commit evil deeds? Which parts of our selves do we try to hide from others -- and from ourselves? How do we find a balance between routine predictability and chaotic despair? What excuses do we make to avoid taking responsibility for our (in)actions? Focusing on Yalom's four 'givens' of the human condition - death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness - the authors examine these existential themes in relation to wide-ranging topics. The chapters include case studies from the world of skydiving, women and transgender pro-wrestlers, suicide bombers, sexual subjectivity, utopias and dystopias, psychoanalysis, technology and progress, power and love. As such, the book will be a useful resource for scholars and students from a range of humanities and social science disciplines.
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Reviewer:
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Sherie Huber,
MS Education Admin, MS SEL
(Benedictine University)
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Range
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Question
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Score
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| 1-10 |
Are the author's objectives met? |
10 |
| 1-10 |
Rate the worthiness of those objectives. |
8 |
| 1-5 |
Is this written at an appropriate level? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the authority of the authors. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient illustrations? |
N/A |
| 1-5 |
Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. |
N/A |
| 1-5 |
Rate the print quality of the illustrations. |
N/A |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient references? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the currency of the references. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the pertinence of the references. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the helpfulness of the index. |
3 |
| 1-5 |
If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book |
N/A |
| 1-10 |
Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? |
8 |
| 1-10 |
If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? |
N/A |
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Reviewer:
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Sherie Huber,
MS Education Admin, MS SEL
(Benedictine University)
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Description
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| This is a collection of ten post graduate students' writings and reflections based on the textbook Existential Psychotherapy, Irvin Yalom (Basic Books, 1980). Each writing explores an author's connection in real life social issues to one of Yalom's four givens: death, freedom, isolation, and meaningfulness. The book uses empirical and theoretical studies to connect past visionaries to societal codes of today. |
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Purpose
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| The editors' purpose in assigning the writing task was to encourage creative, imaginative thoughts about things valued and cared about. The book encourages readers to reflect upon and question their own paths through Yalom's four givens based on experiences and viewpoints explored in each chapter. |
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Audience
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| This collection's audience includes anyone interested in expanding their view of an uncertain world through an existential lens. It was presented as a post-doctoral class assignment and is now a published collection. Societal challenges, situations, and significance are broad yet tied to one or more of Yalom's four givens. The audience drawn to this collection is varied, ranging from individuals to book groups, debate teams, and professionals looking to spark meaningful discussion or journaling. |
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Features
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| The index lists provocative chapter titles. The introduction spells out the intent of the collection. It leads readers challenge themselves to change by offering self-reflective questions. Each chapter stands alone, exploring a personal experience through the lens of existentialism. Flow of text is hindered in one or two chapters through vocabulary repetition or over citation. As a collection, the theme is consistent, as is the layout of chapters. Each describes methodology used, ties their personal experiences to various existential writings with citations, and offers the author's connection to current societal challenges. Every chapter challenges and provokes introspection. The stories are varied, based on personal experience, lending readers to personally connect with the ideology presented. The book personalizes current societal challenges, and explains vocabulary and connections to meaninglessness, freedom, death, and isolation made through experiential stories. |
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Assessment
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| Personal stories and connection to today's societal challenges drive the relevance of this book. Specific chapters can stimulate debate, self-reflection, and discussion. Because it is a collection of post-doctoral students' firsthand experiences tied to research on existentialism, the book is unique. Anyone wishing to grow through this quickly changing world can glean insight or reject the self-reflected thoughts offered by these stories by thinking about and tying their own evolving world to death, freedom, loneliness, and meaningless. |
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