Historical Figure
Jean-Paul Sartre
1905–1980
French existentialist philosopher (1905–1980)
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Biography
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. 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."
In Their Own Words (5)
I felt less alone when I didn't know you yet: I was waiting for the other. I thought only of his strength and never of my weakness. And now here you are, Orestes, it was you. I look at you and I see that we are two orphans.
Electra to her brother Orestes, Act 2 , 1943
I think they do it to pass the time, nothing more. But time is too large, it can't be filled up. Everything you plunge into it is stretched and disintegrates.
Diary entry of Friday (2 February), concerning a card game , 1938
People who live in society have learned how to see themselves in mirrors as they appear to their friends. I have no friends. Is that why my flesh is so naked?
Diary entry of Friday (2 February) , 1938
In order to make myself recognized by the Other, I must risk my own life. To risk one's life, in fact, is to reveal oneself as not-bound to the objective form or to any determined existence — as not-bound to life.
p. 237, 1998 edition , 1943
Yes, I am so free. And what a superb absence is my soul.
Orestes, Act 1 , 1943
Timeline
The story of Jean-Paul Sartre, told in moments.
Publishes Nausea. A novel about a man who becomes physically ill from the sheer meaninglessness of existence. It doesn't sell well. He teaches philosophy in Le Havre and Paris, wears dirty clothes, and drinks too much.
Publishes Being and Nothingness. 700 pages of existentialist philosophy written while Paris is under German occupation. 'Existence precedes essence.' You aren't born with a purpose. You build one. The Left Bank intellectuals make it their gospel.
Declines the Nobel Prize in Literature. Sends a letter explaining he's always refused official honors. The prize is worth 273,000 kronor. He'd also turned down the Legion of Honour. He later admits he could have used the money.
Dies of pulmonary edema in Paris at 74. Fifty thousand people follow his coffin to Montparnasse Cemetery. He and Simone de Beauvoir never married despite 50 years together. She'd asked. He said no. They're buried in the same grave.
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