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Philosophy General

Justifying Our Existence

An Essay in Applied Phenomenology

by (author) Graeme Nicholson

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2009
Category
General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802099297
    Publish Date
    Mar 2009
    List Price
    $75.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802096203
    Publish Date
    Feb 2009
    List Price
    $40.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442693296
    Publish Date
    Feb 2009
    List Price
    $29.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442688421
    Publish Date
    Feb 2009
    List Price
    $66.00

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Description

In his magnum opus Being in Time (1927), Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) argued that individuals have assumed that their existence is "a given," when in actual fact they simply have the ability to be. Justifying Our Existence examines the ways in which human beings attempt to calm their existential concerns by magnifying and proving their existence through phenomena such as self-righteousness, careerism, nationalism, and religion.

Using remarkably accessible and concise writing, Graeme Nicholson provides a close reading of Heidegger's methods to indicate how his work has a practical application for existential concerns. Justifying Our Existence shows how phenomenology can be used to foreground existence, while also providing startling insights into human behaviour, the motivation behind many of our social systems, as well as one of the twentieth century's most important philosophers.

About the author

Graeme Nicholson is a professor emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto.

Graeme Nicholson's profile page