Sartre: A Philosophical Biography

454 Pages·2015·2.24 MB·English

by  Thomas R. Flynn

SARTRE: A PHILOSOPHICAL BIOGRAPHY
Jean-PaulSartre(1905–1980)wasoneofthemostinfluentialthinkersofthe
twentiethcentury.Regardedasthefatherofexistentialistphilosophy,hewas
alsoapoliticalcritic,moralist,playwright,novelist,andauthorofbiograph-
ies and short stories. Thomas R. Flynn provides the first book-length
accountofSartreasaphilosopheroftheimaginary,mappingtheintellectual
developmentofhisideasthroughouthislife,andbuildinganarrativethatis
notonlyphilosophicalbutalsoattentivetothepoliticalandliterarydimen-
sions of his work. Exploring Sartre’s existentialism, politics, ethics,
and ontology, this book illuminates the defining ideas of Sartre’s oeuvre:
the literary and the philosophical, the imaginary and the conceptual, his
descriptivephenomenologyandhisphenomenologicalconceptofintention-
ality,andhisconjunctionofethicsandpoliticswithan“egoless”conscious-
ness. It will appeal to all who are interested in Sartre’s philosophy and its
relation to his life.
thomas r. flynn is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy at
Emory University. He is the author of many articles and books, including
Sartre and Marxist Existentialism: The Test Case of Collective Responsibility
(1984);Sartre,FoucaultandHistoricalReason,vol.i,TowardanExistentialist
Theory of History (1997) and vol. ii, A Poststructuralist Mapping of History
(2005); andExistentialism: A VeryShortIntroduction (2006).

Sartre
A Philosophical Biography
Thomas R. Flynn
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521826402
©ThomasR.Flynn2014
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabySheridanBooks,Inc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Flynn,ThomasR.,author.
Sartre:aphilosophicalbiography/ThomasR.Flynn.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-521-82640-2(Hardback)
1. Sartre,Jean-Paul,1905–1980. 2. Existentialism. I. Title.
B2430.S34F5782014
194–dc23
[B] 2014015829
ISBN978-0-521-82640-2Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
For my extended family

Contents
Preface page ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
1 The childhood of a genius 1
2 An elite education: student, author, soldier,
teacher 20
3 Teaching in the lyce´e, 1931–1939 47
4 First triumph: The Imagination 76
5 Consciousness as imagination 104
6 The necessityof contingency: Nausea 137
7 The war years, 1939–1944 162
8 Bad faith in human life: Beingand Nothingness 196
9 Existentialism: the fruit of liberation 230
10 Ends and means: existential ethics 262
11 Means and ends: political existentialism 283
12 A theoryof history: Search for a Method 314
13 Individuals and groups: Critique of
Dialectical Reason 334
14 A second ethics? 355
15 Existential biography: Flaubert and others 382
Conclusion: the Sartrean imaginary, chastened
but indomitable 409
Select bibliography 413
Index 424
vii