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A review by nathanielhughes00
Existentialism Is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre
5.0
‘I think, therefore, I am’ - René Descartes
Sartre builds upon Descartes’ previous philosophy of the status of being in this book, based on his lecture in 1945. The anecdote of the student battling between two heavy-weighing decisions, of staying with his mother and moving to England to help fight for the liberation of France, hit hard. The awareness of being and knowledge of the self was something that I found rather difficult to grasp (and at times, tedious) in ‘nausea’. It would have been beneficial if I were to have read this first, despite this being released subsequently. Interestingly, Sartre mentions ‘nausea’ and its criticism of humanism (or a certain kind of humanist - specifically, I suppose, the autodidact) and considers the duality of humanism. This alone, made me want to re-read the novel despite only having read it a little under a year ago. All in all, this book works as an excellent introduction to existentialism, though personally, Sartre’s style fits far better for an essay than it does for a novel.
Well worth a read :)
Sartre builds upon Descartes’ previous philosophy of the status of being in this book, based on his lecture in 1945. The anecdote of the student battling between two heavy-weighing decisions, of staying with his mother and moving to England to help fight for the liberation of France, hit hard. The awareness of being and knowledge of the self was something that I found rather difficult to grasp (and at times, tedious) in ‘nausea’. It would have been beneficial if I were to have read this first, despite this being released subsequently. Interestingly, Sartre mentions ‘nausea’ and its criticism of humanism (or a certain kind of humanist - specifically, I suppose, the autodidact) and considers the duality of humanism. This alone, made me want to re-read the novel despite only having read it a little under a year ago. All in all, this book works as an excellent introduction to existentialism, though personally, Sartre’s style fits far better for an essay than it does for a novel.
Well worth a read :)