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Existentialism Is a Humanism summary
A Philosophy of Freedom
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Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre is a philosophical essay that explores the core principles of existentialism, emphasizing personal freedom, responsibility, and the importance of defining oneself through actions and choices.
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Existentialism Is a Humanism
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Sartre’s philosophy speaks to a world without God
Sartre recalls the day he lost his faith. He was twelve and the classmates who accompanied him to school were late. Impatient, he decided to think about God. “Well,” he said to himself, “he doesn’t exist.” It was, in his words, an authentic revelation. After that, it was all over; the question had been settled once and for all. Sartre thought pride might have inclined his precocious twelve-year-old self toward atheism: there was no place for God in the self-image of a boy who saw himself as the “source of his own origins.” But history played its part too.
By the time of Sartre’s birth in 1905, two generations of intellectuals had grappled with God’s apparent retreat from the world. Marx attributed the decline of religion to the rise of capitalism. The relentless pursuit of profit, he wrote, had drowned “the heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour” in the “icy water of egotistical calculation.” Nietzsche pinned the blame on progress: humanity’s scientific and technological advances had made God superfluous. By the late-nineteenth century, everything from the origin of species to the causes of infant mortality could be rationally explained without appeal to an all-knowing deity. God, in Nietzsche’s words, was dead and it was a self-sufficient humanity that killed him.
For Sartre, this wasn’t a value-judgment – it was a “historical fact.” Atheism, an idea once associated with a small number of enlightened dissenters, had conquered the European mind. Religion, once the foundation of its thought, no longer provided assurance or guidance. Now, for many nineteenth-century Europeans, God’s death was a shock akin to being plunged into icy water. Without religion’s truths and laws, the pessimists among them argued, people would become nihilists – criminal partisans of the idea that life is meaningless and anything goes. As the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky put it, “If God doesn’t exist, everything is permissible.”
Sartre sympathised with these pessimists. There are, he says, people who lose someone important whose life from that point on is no more than the “gloomy aftermath of that death.” Writing in the 1940s, he was surrounded by the “survivors” of God’s death. To lose the belief upon which your values are based is, as Nietzsche foresaw, to go beyond good and evil – and to find yourself in a disorienting and apparently meaningless world. But the loss of that belief is also an opportunity for creative endeavour. If God can’t help us, we must help ourselves.
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What is Existentialism Is a Humanism about?
Existentialism is a Humanism (1946) is one of Jean-Paul Sartre’s most accessible explanations of his philosophy. Rooted in a matter-of-fact atheism, it contends with humanity’s search for meaning in an absurd and indifferent universe. Rejecting everything-goes nihilism, it argues that we must take responsibility for creating our own meaning.
Existentialism Is a Humanism Review
Existentialism is a Humanism (1946) by Jean-Paul Sartre provides a compelling insight into existentialist philosophy and why it matters in our lives. Here's why this book is definitely worth reading:
- Offers clear and concise explanations of complex philosophical ideas, making them accessible to a wide range of readers.
- Highlights the importance of individual freedom and personal responsibility, challenging us to create our own meaning in a seemingly chaotic world.
- Provokes deep reflection with its engaging arguments and thought-provoking questions, urging us to examine our values and embrace authenticity.
Who should read Existentialism Is a Humanism?
- Philosophically-minded types wondering what it’s all about
- Anyone in search of more authentic ways of being
- History enthusiasts
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Existentialism Is a Humanism FAQs
What is the main message of Existentialism is a Humanism?
Existentialism is a Humanism emphasizes individual freedom and the responsibility to create meaning in life.
How long does it take to read Existentialism is a Humanism?
The reading time for Existentialism is a Humanism varies depending on the reader's speed. However, the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Existentialism is a Humanism a good book? Is it worth reading?
Existentialism is a Humanism is worth reading for its thought-provoking exploration of freedom and personal responsibility.
Who is the author of Existentialism is a Humanism?
Jean-Paul Sartre is the author of Existentialism is a Humanism.
How many chapters are in Existentialism is a Humanism?
Existentialism is a Humanism does not have individual chapters.
How many pages are in Existentialism is a Humanism?
Existentialism is a Humanism contains 149 pages.
When was Existentialism is a Humanism published?
Existentialism is a Humanism was published in 1946.
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