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Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980). "What is Existentialism?". (1946). Novels Nausea (1938) The Age of Reason (1945); The Reprieve (1947); Troubled Sleep (1950) (3 parts of a 4-part series) Plays The Flies (1943) No Exit (1944) The Respectful Prostitute (1947)

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Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

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  1. Jean-Paul Sartre(1905-1980) "What is Existentialism?" (1946)

  2. Novels Nausea (1938) The Age of Reason (1945); The Reprieve (1947); Troubled Sleep (1950) (3 parts of a 4-part series) Plays The Flies (1943) No Exit (1944) The Respectful Prostitute (1947) The Condemned of Altona (1960) Biography & literary criticism Baudelaire (1947) Saint Genet (1952) The Idiot of the Family (on Flaubert) (1971) Autobiography: Words (1963) Philosophical works The Transcendence of the Ego (1937) The Psychology of the Imagination (1940) Being & Nothingness (1943) “Existentialism is a Humanism” (1946) Search for a Method (1957) The Critique of Dialectical Reason (Vol. I, 1960; Vol. II, 1985) (some of)Sartre’s Writings

  3. In 1964, Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, which he REFUSED on the grounds that such honors could interfere with a writer's responsibilities to his readers.

  4. Sartre did not believe in “bourgeois marriage,” but he had an intimate life partnership from the late 1920s until his death in 1980 with . . . .

  5. Simone de Beauvoir(1908-1986) She, too, was an exponent of Existentialism. Among her numerous works are The Mandarins (1955), a novel; The Second Sex (1949–50), a profound analysis of the status of women; The Coming of Age (1970), a study of society's treatment of the aged; & two collections of memoirs, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (1958) & The Prime of Life (1960). • “To make oneself an object, to make oneself passive, is a very different thing from being a passive object.”

  6. So, Sartre, What is Existentialism?

  7. “Existence” is Prior to “Essence” 1 Text, 215-217

  8. S’s “phenomenological” starting point(What is phenomenology?) An approach to reality from the standpoint of subjectivity (consciousness) If I approach reality from that point of view, what do I find?

  9. I find a difference • between subjects & objects, • between persons & things, • between beings that are conscious & beings that are not conscious. What is the difference? Non-conscious Objects or Things Conscious Subjects or Persons Essence precedes Existence Existence precedes Essence

  10. From the subjective standpoint of individual consciousness, • I am not a manufactured object with a pre-conceived essence or specific use (function) (unlike, for example, a paper-cutter) (215-216), • nor am I a creature manufactured by God in accordance with a concept (essence) in the divine mind (216), • nor am I merely a particular instance of a universal human nature that precedes and determines my existence (216-217). No . . . ,

  11. I exist first, & then I take on an essence through my own actions, through my own manner of existing & acting.

  12. Self-Creation &Personal Responsibility 2 Text, 217-219

  13. Subjects (persons) are free, self-creating, & therefore personally responsible for what they create & do. Objects (things) have no freedom, are not self-creating, & thus have no responsibility for what they are or for how they function. Another distinction betweensubjects (persons) & objects (things):

  14. According to Sartre, Thus, since I freely create myself (my essence), I am responsible for my choices & actions & and what I have created. what I am (my essence) is a product of my choices & actions (my manner of existing). But Sartre also claims that . . .

  15. my choices & and my self-creation have universal import. "In choosing [for] myself, I choose [for] humanity." (219) “Therefore, I am responsible for myself and for everyone else” (219). What does Sartre mean here? Do you agree with him?

  16. According to Sartre, if I recognize • that I am not made to be what I am but rather freely choose my own “essence,” • that what I am is my own responsibility because my self is my own creation, • that, through my choices, I become responsible not only for myself but also for [all?] others, & • that I cannot look to God for guidance in this process since God does not exist, then I will live a life of . . .

  17. Anguish,Forlornness,& Despair 3 Text, 219-228

  18. Existential Anguish a response to the burden of responsibility

  19. (219)

  20. What’s wrong with the following claims? • “But everyone doesn’t act that way” (in response to the question, “What if everyone acted that way?”). • “An angel of God or God Himself commanded me to do it.” • “My anguish keeps me from acting.”

  21. Existential Forlornness a response to the non-existence of God

  22. Implications of the nonexistence of God: • No foundation for objective & absolute values. • All values are human creations. • Man is “condemned to be free.” • We are alone, with no justifications & no excuses.

  23. Looking for answers • How to resolve moral dilemmas: A student’s struggle with conflicting moral obligations (223-6). • How to define the meaning of one’s life: A young priest’s interpretation of the “signs” (226-7). How do these examples illustrate Sartre’s explanation of existential forlornness?

  24. Existential Despair a response to the unreliability of others (relying on what is subject to one’s own will, not on things or persons external to one’s will)

  25. A Philosophy of Action 4 Text, 229-231

  26. Existential Subjectivity Text, 231-234 5

  27. 6 The Unavoidability of Choice& the Call of Freedom(Text, 234-235)

  28. Existentialist Humanism 7 Text, 235-236

  29. Finis

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