Situations, Vol 3

by Jean-Paul Sartre

Essays in French by the famous existentialist philosopher on the French experience under the German Occupation (1940-44), his travels in the United States (1944), Marxism, and contemporary art.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology). His work has influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution."
Sartre held an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyles and thought. The conflict between oppressive, spiritually destructive conformity (mauvaise foi, literally, 'bad faith') and an "authentic" way of "being" became the dominant theme of Sartre's early work, a theme embodied in his principal philosophical work Being and Nothingness (L'Être et le Néant, 1943). Sartre's introduction to his philosophy is his work Existentialism Is a Humanism (L'existentialisme est un humanisme, 1946), originally presented as a lecture.

Reviews

[Roddey Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published as a collection in 1949, these essays remain very refreshing to read either in French or English translation after all these years. Sartre's accounts of living under the German Occupation (1940-44) and of his impressions of New York and American individualistic culture (1944) remain as lively and stimulating as ever. To be paired with Simone de Beauvoir's more extensive travelog, "America Day by Day."

[Bender · Rating 1 out of 5]

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