A Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre

Paper Summary:

This paper gives a history on the life of Sartre and talks about his works and brand of philosophy. The paper discusses how Sartre was influenced by other philosophers and how these opinions helped shaped his own views on existentialism, fear and self-deception.

From the Paper:

"For Sartre, God is not necessary and is in fact non-existent, and so man is free in a way that can be terrifying and that imposes responsibility. Jean-Paul Sartre was not only a leading philosopher of his generation but also a playwright, novelist, political theorist, and literary critic. Sartre in his writings in the 1940s and after was reacting to the horrors of the war, but he viewed the devastation of war not in terms of its effect on a specific country or people but on humanity. He was continuing in an intellectual tradition extending back to the nineteenth century and to the works of Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. His philosophy is not collective in the way Marxism is nor built on social classes and hierarchies in the way Hitler's is. His view is described as a contemporary form of humanism, with the individual at the center and with a belief in the ability of each individual to shape his or her own existence."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brosman, Catherine Savage. Jean-Paul Sartre. Boston: Twayne, 1983.
• Charlesworth, Max J. The Existentialists and Jean-Paul Sartre. London: George Prior, 1976.
• Holt, Jim. "Exit, Pursued by a Lobster: Jean-Paul Sartre: Brilliant philosopher, or totalitarian apologist?" Slate (22 Sept 2003). December 8, 2007. http://www.slate.com/id/2088648/nav/navoa/.
• Honderich, Ted. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Kaufmann, Walter. "Preface." In Sartre, Hazel E. Barnes. London: Quartet Books, 1973.

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