Sartre's second century

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1945-2005: Existentialism and Humanism Sixty Years On 79 conclusion: literally the "de-struction" of the subject, or what we could call, in Derridean terms, the "dis-placement" of the subject. Heidegger in particular criticises what he perceives to be <strong>Sartre's</strong> philosophical starting-point, Cartesian subjectivity, for failing to address adequately the question of Being. He writes: "Da-sein ist je meines" ("D
80 Chapter Six Sartre a philosopher of freedom rather than a humanist, in the sense that man is not taken as an end in himself. However, as always when reading philosophy, Sartre reads Heidegger with the eye of a literary writer as much as with the eye of a philosopher. The neat formula—"existence precedes essence"—immediately provides him with a basis for a phenomenological ethics: "If, in fact, existence precedes essence [...] man is free, man is freedom." 19 Sartre seizes on the opportunity to oppose a long line of literary and philosophical figures such as Diderot, Voltaire and Kant, who argue that "essence precedes existence" since, according to these thinkers, we all possess a universal human nature. Sartre inverts the term, and we need to remember here that this idea of a human nature does not just refer to a type of nineteenth<strong>century</strong> cultural tombstone. Today for example, Noam Chomsky advocates that scientific knowledge, without reference to a type of "human nature", would be impossible. 20 However, for Sartre, the attraction of turning several hundred years of philosophical enquiry on its head must have been enormous. And then, what could be more readily comprehensible to the general public than to associate the notion of the "authentic" and "inauthentic", taken from Heidegger, with both "existence" and "essence"? The "inauthentic", on this reading, would be associated with an "essentialist" reading of human subjectivity, whilst the "authentic" would be a correlate of that raw, nauseating experience of human existence, tinged with anguish, describing that fundamental existential state of "being-in-question" found in La Nausee, Les Chemins de la Liberte {Roads to Freedom, 1945), and in certain sections of L'&re et le neant. Authentic existence is based on freedom of choice, responsibility, the perpetual transcendence of consciousness in the project of being, the perpetual mise-en-question (bringing into question, or interrogation) of our being. Inauthentic existence is based on a denial of choice, responsibility and human freedom. It is rooted in stagnation and immanence and conveys all the characteristics of the en-soi (in-itself). Like the salauds (bastards) of La Nausee, the mauvaisefoi (bad faith) of inauthentic existence means openly embracing the formula "essence precedes existence". For Sartre, on the contrary, we are "not" what we are: we "make ourselves" to be. An understanding of the concept of the continual "becoming" of consciousness, that is, the time of authentic existence, is "Si, en effet, Fexistence precede l'essence [...] rhomme est libre, l'homme est liberty" (Sartre, L'Existentialisme est un humanisme, 36-37). 20 Noam Chomsky in a personal e-mail to the author dated 9 March 2005. Human nature, for Chomsky, is our unique biological endowment which distinguishes us from other mammals.
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Sartre's Second Century Edited by B
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To Heather and to Kevin and Solveig
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viii Table of Contents CHAPTER NINE
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X Introduction unique in embracing
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Xll Introduction but throughout wes
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CHAPTER ONE SARTRE: A BIOGRAPHICAL
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Sartre: A Biographical Sketch 3 Par
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Sartre: A Biographical Sketch 5 By
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Sartre: A Biographical Sketch 7 The
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Sartre: A Biographical Sketch 9 wer
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Sartre: A Biographical Sketch 11 ba
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Sartre: A Biographical Sketch 13 Ho
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Sartre: A Biographical Sketch 15 ph
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CHAPTER TWO AUTOBIOGRAPHY, ONTOLOGY
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Autobiography, Ontology and Respons
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Page 42 and 43: Autobiography, Ontology and Respons
Page 48 and 49: CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE AND PHILOS
Page 50 and 51: Literature and Philosophy in Sartre
Page 60 and 61: Temporality and the Death of Lucien
Page 70 and 71: Sartre and Nietzsche: Brothers in A
Page 86 and 87: CHAPTER SIX 1945-2005: EXISTENTIALI
Page 88 and 89: 1945-2005: Existentialism and Human
Page 100 and 101: Sartre, Intentionality and Praxis 8
Page 118 and 119: The New Sartre: A Postmodern Progen
Page 136 and 137: CHAPTER NINE A SURREPTITIOUS ROMANT
Page 138 and 139: Reading Sartre with Victor Hugo 125
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Reading Sartre with Victor Hugo 129
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Hidden Wordplay in the Works of Jea
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CHAPTER ELEVEN DESTABILISING IDENTI
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The Literary-Philosophical Experien
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CHAPTER TWELVE CONTEMPORARY PERSPEC
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Contemporary Perspectives 175 evide
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Contemporary Perspectives 177 has t
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Contemporary Perspectives 179 exten
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Contemporary Perspectives 181 (The
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Contemporary Perspectives 183 mistr
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Contemporary Perspectives 185 chara
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Contemporary Perspectives 187 "So,
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Contemporary Perspectives 189 We ex
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN EXISTENTIALIST IMP
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Existentialist Impact on 6shima Nag
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Sartre's Legacy in an Era of Obscur
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CONTRIBUTORS CAM CLAYTON Cam Clayto
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Sartre's Second Century 217 SlMONE
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Sartre's second century

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