LONELINESS,
DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, & DEATH:
OUR
EXISTENTIAL PREDICAMENT
a world-wide electronic
discussion group
Because awareness of our Existential Predicament
is so rare in the human species,
and because it might initially seem so unpleasant to study this
problem,
it might be impossible to gather a group of willing readers in any one
time and place.
But even if only one person in a million is ready to explore this
advanced form of suffering,
it might be possible to gather a virtual group by means of
the Internet.
In fact, there is already one Yahoo Group
assembled around this theme.
This is the Existential
Freedom Group.
Some details about its background will be found by clicking its name.
Instead of starting a new group for this virtual seminar,
the Existential Freedom Group will be our means of communication.
In other words, everyone who wants to discuss Our Existential Predicament
will join this world-wide electronic group.
You put your name and e-mail address on this list
by sending a blank message to:
ExistentialFreedom-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
.
There
is no charge for joining The Existential
Freedom Group.
The members of this Yahoo Group will decide exactly how we proceed.
After the most committed participants have
identified themselves,
we might decide to use a Facebook Page for our discussions.
This will only happen if 100% of those committed to this cyber-serminar
have easy access to Facebook.
Another Facebook Page displays (under Photos) the
new cover for
Our Existential Predicament: Loneliness, Depression, Anxiety, &
Death.
This cover will be used for all new copies printed in 2012 and beyond.
But those who have the original cover need not fear:
Because no more of that cover will be produced,
books with the original cover might become collector's items.
Also, be assured that the content of the book is exactly the same,
the fifth edition, 2006.
The Facebook Page is called Existential Books.
And here is the direct link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Existential-Books/51765409733
The original cover appears in the
profile photo.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR OUR
EXISTENTIAL PREDICAMENT
This on-line seminar will read and discuss a book entitled:
Our
Existential Predicament:
Loneliness,
Depression, Anxiety, & Death.
In the following table of contents,
you can click any chapter title to see
the specific contents of that chapter,
including its first page or two.
Introduction Transcending Our
Existential Predicament
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
Bibliography
FINDING A COPY OF THIS RARE BOOK
The easiest way to obtain a copy of Our
Existential Predicament
is by mail-order directly from the publisher.
It can be delivered to your home or office by the US Postal Service.
And if you live anywhere else on the planet Earth,
an airplane can fly your copy to you.
Search for this book on the publisher's website,
which you will find by searching the Internet for "Existential Books".
This large book is available in three different
bindings:
(1) comb binding, (2) screw-post binding, or (3) loose-leaf notebook.
The publisher's website explains the differences.
Or you can write to the author for full details:
PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU.
Explain where you live
and how you would prefer to pay.
GETTING OUR
EXISTENTIAL PREDICAMENT INTO YOUR FAVORITE LIBRARY
The University of Minnesota Library is one of the
first in the world
to put this book on its shelves.
If you are a University of Minnesota students or faculty member,
you can borrow Our
Existential Predicament from Wilson Library:
TC
Wilson Library Quarto BF204.5 .P37 2006 Regular
Loan
If you cannot borrow from the University of
Minnesota libraries,
with some serious encouragement from you,
you should be able to get your favorite library to obtain a copy for
you to borrow.
The publisher offers to provide copies free of charge
to any pubic or academic libraries with on-line catalogs
that agree to put this book on their shelves.
This offer of free books to libraries is explained here:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/LIB-FREE.html
You might provide your preferred library (anywhere
in the world)
with the above link, telling the librarian
that you would like to borrow Our
Existential Predicament
if it were placed on the shelves.
Usually libraries have an on-line method of suggesting books.
(And, of course, your library can always buy a copy.)
There is now a world-wide way of looking for books
in libraries:
Go to WorldCat.
Earlier
editions were called The
Human Predicament.
This book first appeared in the 1970s
as a series of small books called
The Existential Freedom Series.
Based on where you write from,
the WorldCat will find the copy closest to you.
Five editions
have been
published.
But even older editions provide the same basic content.
MORE
CONTENT FROM OUR
EXISTENTIAL PREDICAMENT
If you are still undecided about this on-line
seminar,
here is additional information about the book:
Read a synopsis
of each chapter:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/XP-SYN.html
And here you will find the
beginning of each chapter,
including its outline:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/XP.html
Over 50 pages of the book are published
on the Internet,
which should give you enough free samples
for you to decide just where to begin
reading.
These synopses, outlines, and excerpts
should help you decide which ways of experiencing
our Existential Predicament are most relevant
to you.
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: 978-0-89231-950-3
WEBSITE FOR THIS BOOK:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/XP.html
LIST PRICE: $100 US
WHOLESALE PRICE: $45
WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ A SHORTER BOOK?
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 and/or present belief or
non-belief)
should be able to follow this study-book.
OTHER BOOKS AND INTERNET RESOURCES
Additional books
will be found
in the Existential Spirituality Bibliography:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/B-XSP.html
The Internet also has
a few short essays (3-4 pages each)
presenting in very brief format
the basic themes of our Existential Predicament:
"Loneliness of Spirit: Deeper than the
Reach of Love":
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-LONE.html
"Being Depressed in Spirit: Deeper than
Psychological Depression":
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-DEP.html
"Looking for the Meaning of Life":
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-MEAN.html
In 2009, a Facebook Page was established for
Existential Spirituality.
This might also become a way for readers to communicate with one
another.
This virtural seminar should begin sometime in
2012.
It will probably proceed by reading and discussing one chapter per
month.
But we might decide to take more time to discuss the longest chapters,
which deal with existential anxiety and ontological anxiety.
Because Our
Existential Predicament can be read in any order
(after the Introduction, which explains how to get started with inward
exploration),
newcomers will be welcome to join this virtual seminar at any time.
People who discover this seminar after it has already begun
can catch up by reading the archives of the Yahoo Group, Existential
Freedom.
And they can join in discussing whatever chapter is being explored that
month.
created December 10,
2009; revised 12-11-2009; 3-9-2010; 4-15-2010; 1-5-2012
Read an even
longer course description.
Go to more information about the author's career
in alternative adult education,
including other possible courses.
Go to the EXISTENTIALISM
page.
Go to the Existential
Spirituality index page.
Go to the beginning of this home page:
An
Existential Philosopher's Museum.