Jean-Paul Sartre Biography

Jean-Paul Sartre was a renowned French playwright, philosopher, as well as political activist, who also influenced disciplines such as sociology and literary studies. Being an important figure both in the philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology, he is regarded as an important figure of 20th century French philosophy. Though he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1964, Sartre declined it, saying that according to him, a writer should never become an institution. The philosophy he promoted was based on his position that there is no creator and humans are “condemned to be free.” A lack of a creator, according to him, meant that there is no essence to human existence either. Being a Marxist, he was also an admirer of the Soviet Union. Though he had great enthusiasm for French political movements, he did not join the communist party. His hopes for communism were destroyed, however, when Soviet tanks entered Budapest. He not only did he condemn the act, but also criticized the French Communist Party for being like a puppet to the dictates of Moscow. Though he still believed that Marxism was the best philosophy for the present era, he said that it needed few changes, like learning to respect and value individual freedom of a human being.