Books like Existentialism Is a Humanism

A brisk, electrifying defense of human freedom that places the heavy, exhilarating burden of meaning squarely on your shoulders. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Existentialism Is a Humanism.

thought-provoking
stark
empowering
weighty

01
The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
Albert Camus · 1959
A lyrical and defiant meditation on finding meaning and joy in a universe that refuses to offer any.
Shares:
- stark
- earnest
02
L'être et le néant
Jean-Paul Sartre
A dense, dizzying plunge into the terrifying and exhilarating reality of absolute human freedom.
Shares:
- stark
- weighty
- radical freedom
- the burden of choice
03
At the Existentialist Café
Sarah Bakewell
Pull up a chair at a bustling Parisian café and eavesdrop on the brilliant, messy minds who defined modern freedom.
Shares:
- intellectual
04
Albert Camus
Olivier Todd · 1996
A vibrant, deeply researched immersion into the sun-drenched youth, bitter conflicts, and intellectual passions of a complex literary icon.
Feels:
- sun-drenched
- intellectually charged
- conflicted
05
La nausée
Sartre, Jean-Paul; Translated by Robert Baldick · 2005
A visceral, diary-style descent into the overwhelming, suffocating realization that existence is entirely without inherent meaning.
Feels:
- oppressive
- alienating
- claustrophobic
06
Sein und Zeit
Martin Heidegger · 1985
A dense, paradigm-shifting descent into the very fabric of existence that demands you unlearn everything you thought you knew about reality.
Feels:
- contemplative
- heavy
- existential
07
La Mort heureuse
Albert Camus · 1971
A sun-drenched, philosophical fever dream about the radical, sometimes ruthless pursuit of a life fully lived.
Feels:
- sun-drenched
- languid
- contemplative
08
Pour une morale de l'ambiguite
Simone de Beauvoir
A rigorous, impassioned philosophical journey that transforms the terrifying void of existence into a profound call for human solidarity and ethical action.
Shares:
- weighty
- earnest
09
Age de raison
Jean-Paul Sartre
A restless, smoke-filled wandering through late-1930s Paris, where the greatest terror is the crushing weight of one's own freedom.
Shares:
- intellectual
- personal responsibility
10
The Will to Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl · 1969
A profound, clinical exploration of how to find purpose amidst the pervasive emptiness of modern life.
Shares:
- earnest
11
Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Kafka
Hubben, William
A lucid, provocative journey into the minds of four outsiders who foresaw the chaos of the modern world.
Shares:
- earnest
- intellectual
12
Irrational man
William Barrett
A wry, contemplative journey into the heart of existentialism, challenging the reader to wake up to their own life before it is over.
Feels:
- introspective
- existential
- slightly absurd

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