Jean-Paul Sartre
France's preeminent existentialist philosopher, playwright, and novelist, Sartre argued that existence precedes essence and that humans are condemned to be free. Being and Nothingness is his philosophical masterwork; Nausea his finest novel. He refused the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964.
Works
- NauseaNovel of existential alienation and meaninglessness in everyday bourgeois life
- The Roads to Freedom
- The Age of ReasonNovel exploring freedom and responsibility through interconnected Parisian characters
- The Reprieve
- Iron in the Soul
- Being and NothingnessFoundational philosophical treatise examining consciousness, freedom, and human existence
- Critique of Dialectical ReasonPhilosophical work analyzing Marxism, dialectical materialism, and human agency
- Existentialism Is a HumanismLecture defending existentialism as humanistic philosophy of freedom and responsibility
- The WordsAutobiographical account of Sartre's intellectual formation and literary development
- No ExitPlay where the dead reside in a single room with eternal consequences
- The FliesPlay where insects rebel against tyranny through transformation and violence
- Dirty HandsPlay exploring moral corruption in revolutionary violence and political engagement
- The Devil and the Good LordPlay examining moral choices between faith and pragmatism during religious conflict
- The Condemned of AltonaPlay about Nazi past's shadow over a powerful industrialist family