Existentialism: the philosophy of J-P Sartre
Rae Langton and Jeanette Kennett
8 points * 3 hours per week * First semester * Clayton * Prerequisites: A first-year philosophy subject
The existentialist philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre, as presented in Being and nothingness, and as reflected in some of Sartre's novels and plays. Attention will be given to the relation of Sartre's thought to that of other thinkers, viz. Heidegger, Husserl, Hegel and Freud. Being and nothingness was directed against the tendency of both phenomenology and positivism to reduce everything to the one level. Against this, Sartre asserted the creativeness and freedom of human existence, by contrast with the causal determinism governing everything else.
Assessment
Written (5000 words): 80% * Examinations (1 hour): 20% * Optional replacement of one essay by a 2-hour examination
Prescribed texts
Sartre J-P (tr. H E Barnes) Being and nothingness Washington Square
Sartre J-P Nausea Penguin