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Jean Paul Sartre was one of the foremost philosophers in the twentieth century. He was an extremely outspoken and brilliant philosopher, dramatist, novelist and political journalist. Perhaps, however, his greatest contribution to society is his development of existentialism.

Life. Sartre was born in Paris in 1905 where he later attended the Ecole Normale Superieure. Sartre furthered his education at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and the French Institute in Berlin. Upon completion of his formal education, Sartre taught philosophy until the breakout of World War II. Sartre was called upon for military service and was actually imprisoned from 1940-1941. Upon his release, Sartre taught again in Neuilly, France, and later in Paris. Here, Sartre became active in the French Resistance. The Germans, however, allowed Sartre to publish his authoritarian play The Flies in 1943 and even his major philosophical work, Being and Nothingness, also in 1943. Sartre’s apparent call in life seemed to be teaching, but in 1945 he gave up teaching and founded the political and literary magazine Les Temps Modernes. Sartre not only founded the magazine, but also became the editor in chief of this magazine. Sartre, later in life, drifted very far to the left and became an active Socialist starting in about 1947. Thus, Sartre’s writings during the 1950’s dealt with literary and political problems reflecting the time period, the cold war. Sartre continued writing to receive the Nobel Prize in 1964. However, Sartre refused this highly esteemed award justifying that to accept the award would jeopardize his integrity as a writer.

Existentialism. Sartre’s greatest contribution to the world is the philosophy of existentialism. Enunciated in Being and Nothingness, Sartre combined the theories of a select few German philosophers, the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, the metaphysics of G. W. F. Hegel and Martin Heidegger, and the social theory of Karl Marx. Sartre’s philosophy, so called existentialism, became a worldwide movement. Sartre’s view of man described a man whose existence preceded his essence. Basically, Sartre was defining a being who has no innate goodness, or "human nature." A true existentialist believes there is no God and thus man becomes alone with only ourselves as a guide to making the decisions that define our existence. Our existence not only defines, but also must be defined. Subjectivism provides this definition. Subjectivity refers to the radical freedom to choose we have without a God, but also that this radical freedom becomes a responsibility to use or not use. The use of this subjectivity makes our choices, defines our existence, which in turn defines our essence. Existentialism describes a being who means nothing and is utterly alone in the world, save his other empty compatriots.

Bridge. Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead continues the paths of two characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stoppard writes in what is called the Theater of the Absurd. The action that takes place is realistic but in a manner that is absurd. Sartre’s existentialism helps us identify this absurdity. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail through a convoluted existence to define an essence. Using Sartre’s philosophy, one could ask, if they fail to provide an essence, the product of existence, do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern really exist? From this philosophical question, Stoppard produces the title of his play. Rosencrantz comes right out and asks, "Am I dead?" Guildenstern uses his absurd logic and cannot answer the question either. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern epitomize another existentialist idea: man is nothing. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern embody nothing except for absurdity. They have some ideas that become convoluted by incorrect syllogisms, and thus absurd. Basically, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are contradictions: they cannot define their essence because of their absurd nature and their absurdity prevents their existence. Through this definition, one can answer the question; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Works of Sartre ·
Nausea 1938 ·
The Flies 1943 ·
Being and Nothingness 1943 ·
No Exit 1944 ·
The Age of Reason 1945 ·
The Reprieve 1945 ·
The Respectful Prostitute 1946 ·
Troubled Sleep 1949 ·
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr 1952 ·
The Condemned of Altona 1959 ·
Critique of Dialetical Reason 1960 ·
The Words 1964