This is a thorough and balanced guide to modern French philosophical thought, providing lucid, authoritative accounts of famous philosophers whilst also highlighting lesser-known figures. Author Robert Wicks introduces the major works of each philosopher, explaining their impact on their peers and on the wider world. Covering such major movements as Existentialism, Surrealism, Structuralism and Postmodernism, this handbook is a useful resource for Francophiles, students of philosophy and all those interested in the intellectual landscape of 20th- and 21st-century France. The book includes detailed coverage of such philosophers as Henri Bergson, Beauvoir, Sarte, Camus, Barthes, Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze and Levi-Strauss, among others.

Robert Wicks is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland, new Zealand. He specialises in Continental European philosophy and philosophical aesthetics, and has published both books and articles in these areas, including 'Nietzsche' (Oneworld 2002).

Time, progress and Disillusionment 1

Part 1Surrealism,Existentialism, Vitalism

Part 2 Structuralism

Part 3 Poststructuralism and Postmodernism