Understanding Existentialism provides an accessible introduction to existentialism by examining the major themes in the work of Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and de Beauvoir

Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Existentialism and its heritage 2. Heidegger and the existential analytic 3. Condemned to freedom: Sartre's phenomenological ontology 4. Sartre: hell is other people 5. Merleau-Ponty and the body 6. De Beauvoir: feminism and existential ethics 7. The legacy of existentialism: deconstruction, responsibility and the time of the decision Questions for discussion and revision Further reading and references Chronology Index