Biographical basics Born in Paris, 1905 Father’s death (when JPS was 1) had significant effect Intellect > physical unattractiveness Early writer (and never stopped!) Sociable to peers, rebellious against authority (grandfather, school officials, military conscription)

JPS and Simone de Beauvoir Met at Ecole Normale Superieure – tutor for exams Passionate, intellectual, lifelong relationship Never married; often apart; accepted affairs

Influence of WWII Served for France; captured in June, 1940 Put in German prison camp Escaped in March, 1941 Joined French Resistance movement

Post-war years Sartre himself moves to the left politically Existentialism takes off as a philosophy JPS wins Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964, refuses it “A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution.”

No Exit Written in 2 weeks in 1943 Literal translation = the French equivalent of the legal term in camera, referring to a private discussion behind closed doors In addition to No Exit, English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out, Vicious Circle, Behind Closed Doors, and Dead End

Basic Existentialism FIRST we simply exist – THEN we create the nature of who and what we are FREEDOM CHOICE RESPONSIBILITY

Humans are at their best: rebelling against impersonal society taking responsibility not making excuses

5. If one makes a decision, he or she must follow through 1. Mankind has free will 2. Life is a series of choices, creating stress (a.k.a. “dread,” “despair”) 3. Most decisions have at least one negative consequence 4. Some things are irrational or absurd, without explanation (i.e., no real objective truth) 5 fundamentals of basic Existentialism

Existentialese 101 Being-in-itself: inanimate objects (observer creates “essence”) Being-for-itself: human consciousness (one chooses his/her “essence”) Bad faith to see ourselves as determined by an outside influence: our nature, our body, the physical world, and/or the expectations and pictures others have of us