At the Existentialist Café

Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails

De: Sarah Bakewell

Narrado por: Antonia Beamish

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

From the best-selling author of How to Live, a spirited account of one of the 20th century's major intellectual movements and the revolutionary thinkers who came to shape it.

Paris, 1933: Three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called phenomenology. "You see," he says, "if you are a phenomenologist, you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!"

It was this simple phrase that would ignite a movement, inspiring Sartre to integrate phenomenology into his own French humanistic sensibility, thereby creating an entirely new philosophical approach inspired by themes of radical freedom, authentic being, and political activism. This movement would sweep through the jazz clubs and cafés of the Left Bank before making its way across the world as existentialism.

Featuring not only philosophers but also playwrights, anthropologists, convicts, and revolutionaries, At the Existentialist Café follows the existentialists' story from the first rebellious spark through the Second World War to its role in postwar liberation movements such as anticolonialism, feminism, and gay rights. Interweaving biography and philosophy, it is the epic account of passionate encounters - fights, love affairs, mentorships, rebellions, and long partnerships - and a vital investigation into what the existentialists have to offer us today, at a moment when we are once again confronting the major questions of freedom, global responsibility, and human authenticity in a fractious and technology-driven world.

©2016 Sarah Bakewell (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Polished, witty, often very funny, this stellar production is a rewarding and pleasurable choice. Even more, it proves to be uncannily relevant to the urgent challenges of our current day. " ( AudioFile)

Can't Recommend this Title Highly Enough

This is perhaps the best book I've "read" in years. The way the author weaves the biographical narratives of these philosophers together with explanations and interpretations of their individual philosophies is masterful! What could have been an unbearably dull book is anything but thanks to the talent of the author. I really felt like I knew these luminaries after reading; something which is rare in my experience of biography. The author is fair in her portrayals of the figures she focuses on, neither overly sympathetic or overly critical, and therefore creates a realistic and relatable cast of characters.

It should be noted that the narrator is beyond excellent. Her accents sound natural and unaffected, while her "narrator voice" is pleasant to listen to on its own. While the book is wonderful on its own terms, it is undoubtedly enhanced by the masterful narration.

Excellent Intro to the Founders of Existentialism

Bakewell masterfully weaves together the forces and people that shaped into the philosophical school of existentialism while reflecting on her own philosophical journey. We learn about the personalities and conflicts of some of the greatest philosophers - which helps us to better understand their philosophical thoughts and conclusions. I highly recommend this book as supplemental course reading or simply as an engaging introduction to a movement in philosophy. It has something for everyone, whether you're new to the discipline or a seasoned philosopher.

Audible 20 Review Sweepstakes Entry

A nice and personalized introduction

The author did a very good job by introducing us to the major people and ideas of 20th century philosophical thought. she attempted to focus supposed to be on phenomenalism but she often went off to discuss more the biographies of leading thinkers including Camus and Sartre.

Beside de Beauvoir Merlau-Ponty was her favorite person because of his Pleasant demeanor and easier-to-read writings. I enjoyed listening to the book very much and I hope to dig into the book more and start reading some of the original authors and more depth.

An excellent read:

Good telling of the relationships involved ar that time: Had read much on the subject and knew about the subject but this did much to bring them to life than just reading their works could. Great choice for my first audio book.

PHILOSOPHY IS DEAD

Philosophy is dead. In “At the Existentialist Café” Sarah Bakewell expertly writes about the history of phenomenological and existentialist philosophy. She writes about the lives of Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, and other 19th and 20th century philosophers.

Husserl’s life begins Bakewell’s story in the 19th century. It is Husserl who focuses on the study of consciousness in human beings. To Husserl the nature of objects is determined by the experience of things in human consciousness. Husserl extends Rene Descartes’s “I think, therefore I am” to “I think; therefore, it is.”

Through a succession of followers, Husserl’s concept of reality evolves. Consciousness evolves to reveal truth in some ways and despicable lies in others. Ms. de Beauvoir reveals truths about being a woman in the world while Heidegger condones, if not endorses, Nazi atrocity. Albert Camus recognizes the meaninglessness and indifference of the universe while Jean-Paul Sartre believes in an evolution of human nature that makes communism inevitable.

There is enough information about philosophy and the lives of these philosophers to make a listener question philosophy’s value. Philosophy, like Nietzsche’s God, seems dead. This is not Bakewell’s conclusion but “At the Existentialist Café” suggests philosophers are as capable of predicting life’s meaning as political pundits and stockbrokers are at predicting elections and stock values. The truth of life’s meaning appears to be more a matter of luck than philosophical insight. Never-the-less, “At the Existentialist Café” is a highly interesting history of some very influential philosophers.