Jean-Paul Sartre and Existentialism

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

I am interested in what you guys think about such a progressive intellectual such as Jean Paul Sartre. Would you consider him to be a revolutionary or not? How about the individuals he influenced such as a great revolutionary, Frantz Fanon? As you know Frantz Fanon influenced the Black Panther Party. Just felt like mentioning that. So there you go folks. Time to discuss.

[sunfarstar]

I very much appreciate Sartre (and his wife Beauvoir) life. He is an intellectual battle. I like the style of black existentialism. If, in their days, what they paid all their passion, then the fighting, and today, we would like to learn or that they are not afraid of being isolated attitude. Your life, no one understands you does not matter. Importantly, you can live the liberation through knowledge.

我个人非常欣赏萨特（还有他的爱人波伏娃）的一生。他是一个战斗的知识份子。我喜欢存在主义的黑色风格。如 果说，在他们那个年代，他们付出了他们的所有的战斗激情的话，今天，我们要向他们学习的还是这种不怕被孤立 的态度。你的生活中没有人理解你并不重要。重要的是，你可以通过知识活得解放。:rolleyes::ro lleyes:

[sunfarstar]

Frantz Fanon
Frantz Fanon few Chinese books, I have not had time to buy his book. And I also know that his influence not by much. I hope we can look at the exchange here.
弗朗茨法农的中文书籍很少，我还没有来得及买他的书。而且，我对他的影响也知道得不多。希望我们能在这里交 流一下。:rolleyes:

[A.R.Amistad]

*not even slightly existentialist anymore

[Belisarius]

i have great respect for Sartre's intellectual work and especially his fiction. I actually was a passionate existentialist last year, but reading Heidegger made me step away from Sartre. Now I actually see him as a misinterpretation of Heidegger in the sense that Sartre makes Heideggerian ontology into an ethics, which it ISN'T. Also the notion of the for-itself is wrong, i think. but nontheless i agree with much of his work, e.g. being-for-others.

[A.R.Amistad]

*same

[blake 3:17]

This is a link to a review of a Left socialist political biography of Sartre: http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj102/pitt.htm

He was anti-fascist, anti-colonialist, and active in 68 -- not sure what is left to prove. I don't know how to place his responses to Heidegger and Husserl. I'm curious, but the amount of work involved is pretty low priority at present.

[CHE with an AK]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/tomasutpen/Album2/satre1.jpg
http://www.soberania.org/Images/che_guevara_y_jean_paul_sartre_1.jpg


Sartre with Che Guevara in 1960





After Guevara's death, Sartre would declare him to be "not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age" and the "era's most perfect man." Sartre would also compliment Che Guevara by professing that "he lived his words, spoke his own actions and his story and the story of the world ran parallel."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre

[Janichkokov]

I read Existentialism and Human Emotions a few years back for a Humanities class I took. This was an incredibly powerful and influential book for me. I had never even heard of existentialism before I read it. It really piqued my interest in philosophy.

"Man being condemned to be free carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders."

[Wolf Larson]

Hey comrade,

I myself am a devout Marxist Existentialist. If you look at some of my posts you'll be hard pressed not to find blatant existentialism coupled with dialectical and historical materialism ;)
Sartre was a great existentialist thinker and I am glad that he really brought Marxism and Existentialism together. I personally don't agree with his Maoist politics and I find some of his Maoism to be contradictory to his Marxist Existentialism, but thats just nid-picky stuff. Sartre really created existentialism. Sure, there were proto-existentialists before him, but you can't have existentialism without some Sartre. If you haven't read it already, I would recommend that you read Existentialism is a Humanism. Its sort of the bible for us existentialists, as well as a great essay that shows the compatibility, even the inherent inseperation, of Marxism and Existentialism.

But if you are into supplementing Marxism with Existentialism, don't just look to Sartre. Personally, my favorite proto-existentialist is Soren Kierkegaard. If you can get past his Christianity and such his ideas are great, and I am currently trying to do to Kierkegaard what Marx did to Hegel: demystify it and put it back on its head. Also, read Camu's Myth of Sisyphus, an essential existential work and a blatant metphor for the plight of the proletariet.

Glad to see that interest in existentialist dialectical materialism is growing here on the Left!:thumbup1:

Also, for those of you who are interested in learning more or getting involved with the furtherance of Marxist Existentialism, ie, Existential Dialectical Materialism, please join my group:
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=398

Condemned to roll a rock uphill forever. I think part of Camus point was he ,Sisyphus, could choose to be happy and it was a metaphor for the absurdity of life (especially toil).

Sartre actually, later in life, said he regretted his earlier positions on freedom in saying we were free in any situation. He eventually wanted to be known for his advocacy of socialism and even became more of an anarchist in his late years. He came to see the state as the no 1 threat to human freedom- not just the capitalist state.

Sure he tried to reconcile Marxism and existentialism in 'Critique Of Dialectical Reason' but after that is when he turned towards libertarian socialism.

[Wolf Larson]

In America existentialism was used to advance capitalism. Be your true self....don't live in bad faith- be an individual and express that individuality by buying all manner of multi colored textiles & products capitalists make for you.

The 29 min mark below is interesting:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6718420906413643126#docid=-6111922724894802811

[PeacefulRevolution]

I tried reading "Being and Nothingness" before I knew anything about philosophy (except for a few of Nietzsche's later works -- you know, the one's he wrote before he went insane). You can imagine how lost I was.

But anyway, Sartre has become one of my favorite philosophers, specifically because he is one of the first to have examined being without ever alluding to some higher power. As to Capitalists using Existentialism, the Nazi's used Nietzsche; it doesn't mean that his philosophy isn't still relevant.

And I agree, Kierkegaard is great if you can get past the Christianity.

[communard71]

I don’t know about capitialists using exist. thought. Existentialist philosophy didn’t really impact American intellectual circles until the mid-late 20th century. I’m pretty sure American capitalism was fairly well established by that point. Just because two “philosophies” share some roughly similar characteristics doesn’t mean one influences or supports each other, and last I checked, capitalists haven’t espoused some monolithic philosophy revolving around, of all things, honesty and good faith!