Jean-Paul Sartre
Existentialist of radical freedom — 'existence precedes essence.'
Overview
The public face of 20th-century existentialism, Sartre held that human beings have no fixed nature: we exist first and define ourselves through our choices. With this radical freedom comes total responsibility and the anguish of having no excuses — and the temptation of 'bad faith', fleeing our freedom by pretending we are fixed things. A philosopher, novelist, playwright, and political activist, he made existentialism a cultural force and later engaged deeply with Marxism.
What they supported — and why
Existence precedes essence
SupportedThere is no human nature fixed in advance; we first exist, and then, through our choices, make ourselves what we are.
WhyWithout a God to design us, nothing determines our essence, so we are 'condemned to be free' and wholly responsible for who we become.
Radical freedom and responsibility
SupportedWe are always free to choose our response to any situation, and therefore fully responsible — even for our emotions and our world's meaning.
WhySince consciousness is not a thing with fixed properties, no circumstance forces our choice; we cannot escape freedom, and with it, responsibility.
Bad faith
SupportedWe flee the anguish of freedom through 'bad faith' — self-deception in which we treat ourselves as fixed objects or deny our own choices.
WhyFreedom is dizzying, so we are tempted to hide it, but this is a lie about our own nature that authentic living must refuse.
Causes championed
- Radical human freedom
- Authentic self-creation
- Engaged, responsible existence
- (later) political emancipation
Issues wrestled with
- Do humans have a fixed nature?
- What follows from being free?
- How do we deceive ourselves about freedom?
Hurdles faced
- The moral weight of total responsibility his philosophy demands
- Reconciling radical individual freedom with his later Marxism
Works & books
2 catalogued. Status shows how much survives to today.
Being and Nothingness
SurvivesHis systematic existential ontology of consciousness, freedom, and bad faith.
Existentialism Is a Humanism; Nausea
SurvivesHis accessible manifesto and his philosophical novel.
Read the texts free
Their works online — Open Library catalogues 1,198 works & editions, 1 of them free to read in full.
The influence network
See Jean-Paul Sartre in the map →Influenced by
Influenced
In their words
“Man is condemned to be free.”
— Existentialism Is a Humanism
Legacy
He made existentialism a worldwide movement; his ideas of radical freedom, responsibility, and bad faith still frame how we think about the self.
Follow their questions
This thinker is a stop on these paths through philosophy.
Further reading
Cross-checked against these authoritative references.