Existentialism is a Humanism in Philosophy

Sep 06, 2010 Mounir rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, arabic-translation, a-unfinished

محاضرة طويلة لسارتر يتحدث فيها عن الفلسفة الوجودية وعن الجوانب الإنسانية فيها، ويفند الأكاذيب والأفكار المغلوطة التي انتشرت عنها
مقدمة جيدة لفلسفة الوجود بقلم أحد أبرز أعلامها

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Nov 26, 2014 Abdullah M.k. rated it liked it

أهمية هذا الكتاب ( أو المحاضرة) هي انها تفسير للمذهب ( الوجودي ) بلسان سارتر نفسه .. وفيها توضيح للنقاط التى كانت سبب هجوم عليها من مفكرون اخرون في عصره - كما انها تبعت بنقاش بينه وبين نيفل احد ممثلى المذهب الماركسي .

بالطبع لم تكن جميع الافكار واضحة وضوح مطلق بالنسبة لي - وايضا لا استطيع ان اصرح بحكم مطلق على المذهب الوجودي. ولكن استطيع ان اعترف ان هناك فكرة جيدة في المذهب - والتى قد تقتصر على كونها فكرة او رؤية وليس مذهب فلسفي عميق .. ولكنها بلا شك اضافة جيدة بقدر ما.

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Sep 02, 2014 Dr. A rated it it was amazing

Shelves: the-history-of-philosophy-curated

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Read this and reviews of other classics in Western Philosophy on the History page of www.BestPhilosophyBooks.org (a thinkPhilosophy Production).
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Although Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness is his magnum opus, Existentialism Is a Humanism is a better place to begin. Written as a speech for an educated audience in order to dispel misconceptions about existentialism --that it is pessimistic and against Humanism -- this work is the best place to begin to understand his existentialist phi ---
Read this and reviews of other classics in Western Philosophy on the History page of www.BestPhilosophyBooks.org (a thinkPhilosophy Production).
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Although Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness is his magnum opus, Existentialism Is a Humanism is a better place to begin. Written as a speech for an educated audience in order to dispel misconceptions about existentialism --that it is pessimistic and against Humanism -- this work is the best place to begin to understand his existentialist philosophy.

Here, Sartre discusses at length the existentialist idea of freedom: unique to humans is that we are not born with a predefined essence, but must labor to create meaning for our own lives. Where an acorn’s essence is to bloom into an acorn tree and produce more acorns, the end of human life (which produces culture, art, and science) cannot be reduced to simple reproduction of the species.

In sum, for humans “existence precedes essence.” An individual’s life meaning is not given, but is defined through the choices that they make -- what they choose to affirm and therefore value, and what they negate or discard. It is in living that individual people discover that which is essential and particular to them, which is to say, the meaning of their existence. No one else (nor any external force) can define someone’s life's meaning or purpose, and no one can accept another’s definition in good faith. (We can and do accept external definitions in bad faith, but this is the road to misery!)

Finally, this edition of the lecture includes a fresh translation, a record of the question and answer period that followed the lecture, and in introduction to Sartre’s life and works by his official biographer Annie Cohen-Solal.

Once readers have read this lecture essay, they will be better prepared to begin reading Being and Nothingness, which develops Sartre’s existential philosophy in more technical detail.

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Read this and reviews of other classics in Western Philosophy on the History page of www.BestPhilosophyBooks.org (a thinkPhilosophy Production).
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Jan 29, 2010 Garrett Dunnington rated it really liked it

Shelves: wishlist, existential, philosophy, 2012

this would be the first sartre text i read apart from his play 'no exit'. the themes are surprisingly open to and embrace the notion that it is impossible to live outside a moral construct especially because it is from our moral outlook that we give shape to our existence. existence is never solitary; man is not an island unto itself. the common good is not utilitarian but rather what man decides for himself outside of imposition. god is mentioned but is never totally abolished because it does n ...more

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