Essays in Existentialism

jean-paul sartre

A splendid introduction to the philosophy of existentialism.

In Essays in Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), the leading French exponent of existential philosophy, wrote a book that open many doors to the mind. Sartre challenged his readers to think beyond the meaning of their everyday thoughts and beliefs. His essays on nothingness, on the emotions, and on the image—including “The Problem of Nothingness,” “The Role of the Image in Mental Life,” and “Essays in Aesthetics”—contain the essentials of his metaphysical speculations.

An introductory essay by Professor Jean Wahl clarifies the origins of Sartre’s humanistic, religious, and aesthetic ideas.

Essays in Existentialism challanges and encourages us to alter how we think about the choices that we make: to live “authentically” we must be concious of our freedom to choose and concerned with the effect our choice will have on all others. It is an essential text for any student of philosophy.

Genres philosophynonfictionessaysfranceliteratureself helpfrench literaturetheory

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1965

This edition

Format: 448 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 2000 by Citadel
ISBN: 9780806501628
ASIN: 0806501626
Language: English

About the author

jean-paul sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology). His work has influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution."
Sartre held an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyles and thought. The conflict between oppressive, spiritually destructive conformity (mauvaise foi, literally, 'bad faith') and an "authentic" way of "being" became the dominant theme of Sartre's early work, a theme embodied in his principal philosophical work Being and Nothingness (L'Être et le Néant, 1943). Sartre's introduction to his philosophy is his work Existentialism Is a Humanism (L'existentialisme est un humanisme, 1946), originally presented as a lecture.