Who Was Jean-Paul Sartre?

Jean Paul Sartre is the name of a famous Frenchman. He was a writer, philosopher, and a very famous novelist of the twentieth century. He propagated the existentialism theory and is one of the most influential personalities who lived in the twentieth century. He was also very well known as a literary critic. His philosophy was centred around the idea or concept that the core of existence is based on human experience and consciousness.   

He taught at different places and was actively involved in the World War II. After that he became a full time writer. His philosophical essays and plays are very well known and well read even today. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in the year 1964 but he refused it for some reason. LA NAUSÉE was his first work but his most acclaimed and famous work is Being and Nothingness written in 1943. Many are of the opinion that he was an atheist but this point is still under debate and discussion. Nevertheless he is undeniably one of the most notable and leading personalities who lived in the twentieth century.

Jean-Paul Sartre was born in 1905. He was a French novelist, poet and philosopher. He is now best remembered as the chief exponent of Existentialism. This philosophy stresses the autonomy of the individual and demands that we take responsibilty for our own lives and actions. To try and avoid moral responsibility is an act of "bad faith", a refusal to be authentic.

Sartre's ideas are most clearly expressed in his fiction; his novels include "Nausea" in 1938 and the famous trilogy "Roads to Freedom" (1945-7.) He also wrote a number of plays including "Huis Clos" or "No Way Out": written in 1946, this play is a good starting point for exploring Sartre's philosophy. He was helped in his work by his fellow-philosopher and lifelong partner, Simone de Beauvoir. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

Sartre was often in trouble during his earlier life for his left-wing views and outspoken criticisms of French institutions; however, by the time he died in 1980, he had become a much respected man of letters.