Neuroexistentialism: Third-wave existentialism

Neuroexistentialism is a recent expression of existential anxiety over the nature of persons. Unlike previous existentialisms, neuroexistentialism is not caused by a problem with ecclesiastical authority, as was the existentialism represented by Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche, nor by the shock of coming face to face with the moral horror of nation state actors and their citizens, as in the mid-century existentialism of Sartre and Camus. Rather, neuroexistentialism is caused by the rise of the scientific authority of the human sciences and a resultant clash between the scientific and the humanistic image of persons. Flanagan and Caruso explain what neuroexistentialism is and how it is related to two earlier existentialisms and they spell out how neuroexistentialism makes particularly vivid the clash between the humanistic and the scientific image of persons. They conclude by providing a brief summary of the chapters to follow.

Duke Scholars

Author Owen Flanagan Jr. Philosophy