If I havecontributed anything to existentialism — or, for that matter, totwentieth century thought in general, here it is. I am willing to stand orfall by it .The purpose of this book is described in its title. The philosophy that isat present known as existentialism is identified mainly with the names ofKierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre. It is fundamentally pessimistic —even nihilistic—and a limit seems to have been reached in itsdevelopment. For more than twenty-five years, there has been no newcontribution; Kierkegaard's Unscientific Postscript, Heidegger's Beingand Time and Sartre's Being and Nothingness remain standard worksthat have not been superseded. Existentialism has halted in a cul de sac.In the six volumes of my 'Outsider sequence', l I have attempted tooutline a 'new existentialism' that will possess what is so notably lackingin Heidegger and Sartre — the possibility of future development. Thepresent book is an attempt to present the basic arguments of the'Outsider sequence' in a simple and non-technical language for theordinary intelligent reader. It preNupposes no previous acquaintancewith existentialism or with the 'Outsider sequence.' I have preferred tospeak of a 'new existentialism' rather than a 'phenomenologicalexistentialism' because it is less of a mouthful; but later in the presentvolume, the two terms are used as interchangeable