William Irwin 
The Free Market Existentialist 
Capitalism without Consumerism

Incisive and engaging, The Free Market Existentialist proposes a new philosophy that is a synthesis of existentialism, amoralism, and libertarianism.

* Argues that Sartre’s existentialism fits better with capitalism than with Marxism

* Serves as a rallying cry for a new alternative, a minimal state funded by an equal tax

* Confronts the ‘final delusion’ of metaphysical morality, and proposes that we have nothing to fear from an amoral world

* Begins an essential conversation for the 21st century for students, scholars, and armchair philosophers alike with clear, accessible discussions of a range of topics across philosophy including atheism, evolutionary theory, and ethics

Table of Content

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: Philosophies of Individualism 1

1 ‘Out, out, Brief Candle!’: What Do You Mean by Existentialism? 10

2 Like Cigarettes and Existentialism: Why There Is no Necessary Connection between Marxism and Sartre 33

3 To Consume or not to Consume?: How Existentialism Helps Capitalism 62

4 Why Nothing Is Wrong: Moral Anti-realism 89

5 Not Going to Hell in a Handbasket: Existentialism and a World without Morality 112

6 What’s Mine Is Mine: Moral Anti-realism and Property Rights 132

7 Who’s Afraid of the Free Market?: Moral Anti-realism and the Minimal State 153

Conclusion: Not Your Father’s Existentialism 179

Select Bibliography 181

Index 193

About the author

William Irwin is Herve A. Le Blanc Distinguished Service Professor and Chair of Philosophy at King’s College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Intentionalist Interpretation and scholarly articles on Sartre, Nietzsche, and Heidegger. Irwin originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books with Seinfeld and Philosophy in 1999 and is currently the General Editor of The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series.