Jean-Paul Sartre · Philosophy
Accused of gloom, of nihilism, of dwelling on the sordid, Sartre rose to defend his philosophy as a <em>humanism</em>: the most optimistic of doctrines because it places human destiny in human hands. This lesson follows his great public reply - and the ethics of freedom he tried to build from the rubble of God’s absence.
You learned that Sartre defended existentialism as a humanism : optimistic because it makes humans the authors of their own destiny, and able to ground a real ethic on freedom. Explain why he rejects the charges of pessimism and nihilism, and how he tries to derive a morality of freedom.
Leads to Kant.
Begin this lesson →epoché — a humanities education that remembers you.