Jean Améry and Existentialism’s Limits

John Reed Spiers

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9783031901454
• eBook ISBN: 9783031901461
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: World War II

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the influences and impact of philosopher, writer and public intellectual, Jean Améry. Améry’s writing is often analysed in terms of his experiences as a Jew in Austria during WWII which saw him stripped of his identity, driven into exile, and dehumanised in torture and the death camps. Despite the increasing interest in the philosophical, ethical, and literary dimensions of Améry’s thought, little research discusses his relationship with the most important intellectual discovery of his life: existentialism. This book contributes to and expands upon recent engagements with Améry’s work by situating him within the existential tradition and discussing his writing within the context of his peers and influences. John Reed Spiers argues that reading Améry in the context of the existential tradition contributes to a greater appreciation of his importance as a writer reflecting on the human condition, broadening the Anglophone reception of his work beyond Holocaust Studies, trauma studies, and victimology.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Jean Améry and Sartre’s Existentialism
• 3. Jean Améry’s Ressentiments
• 4. On Aging and Améry’s Pessimism
• 5. Suicide: Affirmation and Negation
• 6. Conclusion
• Back Matter