Introduction to Jean Paul Sartre

 

Early Life and Education (1905-1928)

Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris in 1905. His maternal lineage connected him to the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer. However, his childhood was marked by tragedy when his father died soon after his birth. This left Sartre’s mother, along with her young son, to return to her parental home, where they felt somewhat ignored and merely tolerated. In his autobiographical work Les mots (Words), Sartre reflects on his early years, though with a tone of irony and exaggeration, making it difficult to discern the complete truth of his accounts.

At the age of three, Sartre lost the use of his right eye, but this did not hinder his intellectual growth. He pursued higher education at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure from 1924 to 1928, where he studied philosophy. After graduating, he began teaching philosophy at various lycées (high schools) in Paris and the provinces. His academic journey laid the foundation for his later philosophical inquiries.

Philosophical Formation and Early Works (1933-1938)

Between 1933 and 1935, Sartre conducted research in Berlin and Freiburg, where he encountered German philosophy. This period was crucial for his intellectual development, particularly his engagement with Martin Heidegger, whose work Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) significantly influenced Sartre’s own ideas. The traces of Heidegger’s thought can be found in Sartre’s seminal work, Being and Nothingness.

Upon returning to Paris, he resumed teaching at Lycée Condorcet and published his first two major philosophical works:

1. The Transcendence of the Ego (1936) – A study that distanced itself from Descartes’ philosophy while still acknowledging its influence.
2. Imagination: A Critical Study (1936) – An essay analyzing the nature of imagination and perception.

World War II and Resistance (1939-1945)

Sartre’s literary career took off just before World War II with the publication of Nausea (1938), a novel that captured existentialist themes of alienation and absurdity. The following year, he published Sketch of a Theory of the Emotions and a collection of existentialist short stories, The Wall (1939).

When war broke out, Sartre enlisted in the French army but was soon captured by the Germans in 1940. During his time as a prisoner of war, he wrote The Imaginary: Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination (1940). He was released in 1941 and returned to Paris, where he resumed teaching and became involved in the French Resistance.

During the war years, Sartre produced some of his most influential works:

• Being and Nothingness (1943) – His magnum opus, which developed his existentialist philosophy.
• Plays such as The Flies (1943) and In Camera (1944), which explored themes of freedom and responsibility.
• The first two volumes of The Roads to Freedom (The Reprieve and The Age of Reason), which examined existential and political themes.

Post-War Years: Political Engagement and Literary Success (1945-1960s)

Following the war, Sartre’s influence expanded beyond philosophy into literature, politics, and social critique. In 1945, he co-founded the influential journal Modern Times (Les Temps Modernes), which became a platform for existentialist and political thought.

His political engagement deepened, particularly concerning Marxism. By 1952, he declared Communism as “the only living philosophy of our times” and began defending Marxist ideology, though he remained critical of the Soviet Union. His major political work, Critique of Dialectical Reason (1960), attempted to reconcile existentialism with Marxism.

During this period, Sartre also explored the Jewish experience in post-war Europe in Reflections on the Jewish Question (1946), highlighting how Jews were frequently scapegoated. Meanwhile, he continued to publish volumes of Situations (1947, 1949, 1964), a collection of philosophical and literary essays.

His massive biographical study, Saint Genet: Actor and Martyr (1964), was one of his last significant intellectual works.

Radicalism and the May 1968 Uprising

By the 1960s, Sartre was seen as the intellectual leader of the avant-garde movement. He spent much of his time in Left Bank cafés in Paris, attracting young radicals. The May 1968 student uprising, which paralyzed Paris, was a defining moment in French intellectual history. Although Sartre had supported leftist movements, even he was stunned by the scale of the protests.

Declining Health and Later Years (1970s-1980s)

As Sartre aged, his health deteriorated. A hemorrhage behind his left eye left him almost blind, and he struggled to walk long distances. His lifelong companion, Simone de Beauvoir, took care of him, reading aloud books and political works. Despite his physical limitations, Sartre continued to give interviews and even worked on a film about his life.

In later interviews, he seemed to soften some of his earlier philosophical positions, particularly on human relationships. In a 1975 discussion, he even dismissed the label “existentialist” as “ridiculous.”

Jean-Paul Sartre passed away in 1980, marking the end of an era for French philosophy and existentialism.

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