{short course description:}
This seminar for advanced sufferers
will explore whatever dimensions of our
Existential Predicament or Malaise
the participants choose: existential loneliness,
depression, absurdity, meaninglessness,
void, anxiety, splitting, guilt, death,
despair, or insecurity.
The text of the same name costs $45,
less if the class decides to read
and discuss only some of the chapters.
{one-page course description:}
OUR EXISTENTIAL PREDICAMENT:
LONELINESS, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, & DEATH
This seminar will explore the deepest
existential or spiritual suffering that comes with being a human person.
Only a few people are aware of this level of suffering
because we are usually preoccupied with the practical problems of living.
The philosophical background of this study
includes the works of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
and Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)
It is a seminar in existential psychology or existential phenomenology.
But the deepest exploration will not take place in the library
but in our own inwardness—in our human spirits.
The text for this seminar emerged from several
years
of just such discussions among sensitive, inward persons,
people who knew that there was something fundamentally wrong
with their existence and who wanted to explore
just what this problem might be.
We do not need to face this advanced suffering alone.
In the presence of other sensitive persons of spirit
—and with their help—
we can explore the depths of our Malaise.
The concept of our Existential Predicament
is a reformulation of a phenomenon
(or perhaps several related phenomena)
that has been known to human beings
since the dawn of consciousness.
In the earliest phases of human thinking,
this Dilemma, Predicament, or Malaise
was usually expressed in mythological terms.
But later philosophy and psychology attempted to explain our Malaise
using various philosophical and psychological models.
This seminar draws on the most advanced human thinking
to probe the depths of our hidden suffering.
The complete table of contents
of the textbook for this seminar appears below.
(One week should be sufficient to discuss each chapter,In the following table of contents,
except the longest chapters—anxiety and death—
which should be given 3 or 4 weeks each.
Because this complete seminar would then take 17 or 18 weeks,
most sponsors will select the most important chapters
to include in any particular seminar.
The whole content could be covered
in a series of three or four seminars of about 4 or 5 session each.)
Chapter 1 Existential Loneliness
:
Deeper than the Reach of Love
Chapter 2 Existential Depression
:
Deeper than Psychological Depression
Chapter 3 Existential Absurdity
:
Is Life Worth Living?
Chapter 4 Existential Meaninglessness
:
The Collapse of ‘Meanings' and Illusions
Chapter 5 The Existential Void
:
Discovering Our Bottomless Emptiness
Chapter 6 Existential Anxiety
:
Angst
Chapter 7 Existential Splitting
:
Søren Kierkegaard's Sickness Unto Death
Chapter 8 Existential Guilt
:
Deeper than Moral Conscience
Chapter 9 An Existential Understanding
of Death
:
A Phenomenology of Ontological Anxiety
Chapter 10 Existential Despair
:
Floating Down the River of Despair
Chapter 11 Existential Insecurity
When all Security-Operations Fail
Afterword Obstacles to Existential Freedom
The whole book costs $45 wholesale ($100 retail).
See the publishers' website for details: www.existentialbooks.com.
The Introduction prepares us for becoming aware
of our usually-hidden Existential Malaise.
As we honor our sensitivity and subjectivity,
we become open for the disclosure of depths in ourselves
that are seldom discussed in psychology and philosophy.
The Afterword makes sense only after
we have acknowledged and explored our Existential Predicament.
Once we profoundly know our Dilemma,
we might need some guidance in attempting to resolve it.
{syllabus for distant learners:}
Because only a few people
are ready to acknowledge their Existential Predicament
in any given time and place,
this seminar lends itself especially well to individual exploration.
You buy those parts of Our Existential Predicament:
Loneliness, Depression, Anxiety, & Death
that speak most directly to your way of experiencing the Malaise.
Here are the complete bibliographical details:
AUTHOR: James Leonard Park
TITLE: Our Existential Predicament
SUBTITLE: Loneliness, Depression, Anxiety,
& Death
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CALL NUMBER: B819.P37
2006)
NUMBER OF PAGES: 312
SIZE: 8-1/2 inches wide X 11 inches high X 3/4 inch thick.
PUBLISHER: Existential Books
PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE:
http://www.existentialbooks.com
PUBLICATION DATE: April 9, 2006—5th edition
BINDING: aluminum screw posts (5)
BINDING: comb
BINDING: loose-leaf notebook
ISBN: 0-89321-950-X
WEBSITE FOR THIS BOOK:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/XP.html
LIST PRICE: $100 US
WHOLESALE PRICE: $45
Here is the synopsis of each chapter:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/XP-SYN.html
Here you will find the beginning of each chapter,
including its outline:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/XP.html
This should help you decide which ways of experiencing
our Existential Predicament are most relevant to you.
If you are not sure you are quite ready to
tackle
a huge study of our Existential Predicament,
a much shorter book has been created summarizing the main thesis:
Opening to Grace: Transcending our Spiritual Malaise.
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/OG.html
This book uses some religious language,
but it is not sectarian in tone.
Any open-minded person in spiritual quest
(regardless of religious background)
should be able to follow this study-book.
Additional books will be found
on the Existential Spirituality Bibliography:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/B-XSP.html
After you have begun your own reading program,
you might have some question and comments
you would like to share with someone else who understands the problem.
The author of the basic text offers this service free of charge:
Send your responses, comments, & questions to:
James Park e-mail: PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU