Miljak Mishabjelic :

EXISTENTIALISM - ROOTS TO SARTRE

(Rationalist views of human life ultimate ends – an existentialist selection*)

Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), a slogan by French philosopher Rene Descartes, has become
eventually one of the corner stones of Existentialism. However, other than human living creatures, such
as this Arabic horse on the photo above, are not covered by that postulate. The same is the case with the
credos of majority of World’s religions (except Hinduism).


 * Sartre friends and all interested in the subject are kindly requested to cooperate in the Selection
presented here which is entirely a voluntary project; presently in drafting stage. Please note that only
written comments in the space reserved for it in SCRIBD, relevant to this subject, are considered.

*
The famous slogan of the rationalist philosophers “cogito ergo sum”, in its original
version in Latin reads as: “Ego cogito, ergo sum sive existo” – I think, therefore I exist.
The second mentioned version of the slogan, forged by French philosopher René
Descartes (1596–1650) and often referred to as Cartesian concept, includes a reference
to “Existence”; indicating creation of the philosophy of subjectivity on which modern
Existentialism is based. This essay is dedicated to the roots from which Sartre’s
subjective and materialist version of Existentialism has been constructed.

(In order to facilitate the researches an ADDENDUM at the end of this essay includes the names of
authors mentioned in it. It is recommended also to consult SCRIBD items under: Sartre Jean-Paul
(1905 – 1980) and under: “mishabjelic Sartre”, as well as the Encyclopedias philosoficas available in
Internet).
 *
Early Rationalism
“Eppur si muove”.

Rationalism was a precursor of all modern philosophies of subjectivity, including

Sartre’s existentialism. Its modern version originated in the seventeenth century,
although its roots can be traced back to ancient Greek thinkers. Rationalism came after a
long period of an idealism-materialism ontological controversy that use to exclude or
obliterate each other; while the “Ego cogito” of rationalist Philosophy of subjectivity is
focused on individual human being and his, or her, existential problems. This was a
natural result of the than new scientific discoveries showing that the mankind represent
just a conglomerate of the inhabitants of a single planet lost in the cosmic multitude,
and specially after Galileo Galilei open the way to the idea that everything could, and
should, be scientifically explained. His courageous “Eppur si muove” ("And yet it does
turn around"), an early example of existential personal engagement acts in spite of the
Inquisition threat.

It is possible that the early rationalism in Occidental Europe, during the Descartes time,
emerged also as one of the consequences of the Thirty year war in Europe, terminated
1648; in a similar way that two World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945) affected
Sartre, Camus and other twentieth century existentialists. Together with the literary
figures such as Shakespeare in tragically inspired dramas, and Dostoyevsky in his
novel translated into English as “Poor folks”; or Franz Kafka depicting the imprisoned
humanity, the best thinkers and artistic talents of Europe were engaged, and still are, in
trying to understand why the rational and enlightened Homo sapiens never abandoned
his arms and his cruelty that largely over pass the animals urge to kill for food.

Terrible consequences of these wars, fought in Europe but felt also on inter-continental
scale, included millions of people of all ages dead or disabled. Millions of families lost
their breadwinners and had their homes and property destroyed. No wander that the best
brains of Europe and of the World started considering the rationality of human beings
and the futility of human life; abandoning gradually the purely ontological problems of
classical philosophy in favor of more practical and to individual human person oriented
forms of empiricism, rationalism and existentialism.

Eventually Sartre, Simon de Beavoire, Camus and other existentialists practically

abandoned the theoretical aspects of philosophy in favor of fighting against censure for
total freedom of expression and political engagement. They also started promoting
active engagement in political and social struggle while using not only media but also
literature, theatre and film (movies) as weapons - rather than the ontological arguments.
Some others turned to Buddhism and different oriental religions-philosophies but most
found a refuge in Pragmatism as a convenient means, permitting growing non-political
materialism.

Only in that sense (and in this historical context) one could agree with Stanford
Encyclopedia of philosophy, which in its article on “Existentialism” states that: “Like
´rationalism´ and ´empiricism, ´ existentialism is a term that belongs to intellectual
history.”
In this context also, it should be understood that Sartre´s version of existentialism
(divisible in two stages: ontologically inspired and ethically or politically motivated
one) could be considered a materialistic extension of Descartes dualism, described in
the following section. Or to say that Sartre is rather rooted in Descartes than in
completely idealistic and to mysticism inclined Kierkegaard.

*
Descartes and Kierkegaard (The Cartesian Philosophy of subjectivity)

Ilustration of dualism by Rene Descartes. (Sensory signals are passed to the brain and from
there to the immaterial spirit):

Turning to Descartes and comparing him in more details with Kierkegaard, one cannot
but conclude that he, way before Kierkegaard, was an initiator of the existentialist way
of thinking. Both philosophers were deeply concerned with individual human’s life
destiny and both cited passion as a means to overcoming life anguishes and
desperations. But for Kierkegaard philosophy was an instrument of religion while to
Descartes his rationalism was a means to interpreting the ways of human existence by
using the objective, erroneous sometimes, scientific method (see the illustration below).

In his “Principles of philosophy” Descartes states clearly that "…despite all the
assumptions more extravagant, we could not but believe that this conclusion: I think,
therefore I exist, is not true; and therefore that it is first that occurs to classify orderly
our thoughts. "

In his essay “Discurso del Método” Descartes reiterates that his postulate “I thing
therefore I exist” (implying also dualism of human physical brain and soul) was so
waterproof that “…no critic could possibly brake it”. However, as in his times
everything had to be justified by the Bible, Descartes indicates also that a holistic
dualism has been mentioned in Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament describing the
Creation. Thus one is led to conclude that the “Cartesian philosophy” (the name of
which is probably a Latin derivation of the Descartes name: “Des-cartes”) is a theory of
human existence that is based on the dual biblical, i.e. religious, experiences end the
ontologically rational causative reasoning rooted in scientific experiences.

The influence of the Cartesian philosophy was felt during the period of seventeenth-
eighteenth century and, in some of its aspects, beyond; to be gradually replaced during
the nineteenth and the twentieth century Europe and elsewhere by Existentialism and
Pragmatism with all their variants. However, it should be mentioned that two grand
rationalist philosophers who were also Descartes contemporary: Spinoza and Leibniz,
rejected his biblically inspired dualism.

And, referring to the photo of the Arabic horse above, it should be also mentioned that
Descartes himself indicated that his “dualism substantial” between the human spirit
(res cogitans) and the physical body (res extensa), does not cover the animals; as they
only can be considered as kind of “machines” (or mechanisms) without a soul. This
postulate, among other controversial ones, contributed to the radicalization of
Descartes’´ theoretical position and resulted in the eventual criticism of him by
Diderot, Rousseau and Voltaire.

The period between Descartes and Kierkegaard is characterized by controversies

provoked between idealistic and materialistic version of Rationalism.

French philosopher and scientist Blaise Pascal should be mention here as he created his
philosophy in direct confrontation with Descartes ideas; but indicating various points,
elaborated in more details by Kierkegaard, along which modern existentialism
developed from the first version of the philosophy of subjectivity. Pascal declared
(1654): “I cannot forgive Descartes. In all his philosophy he would have been quite
willing to dispense with God. But he had to take Him in order to set the world in
motion; beyond this, he has no further need of God.” (Three centuries after, Sartre
“dispensed” with the God altogether).

Another similar example is Berkeley. In his metaphysically oriented works, Irish

philosopher and priest Berkeley not only defended idealism but also denied any
materialist alternative for spiritualist existential solution. Berkeley believed that the
material world does not exist, not even in the form of the Cartesian and Lockean
versions of dualism. German philosopher Schopenhour in his “The World as Will and
Representation” (1819) states: “…Berkeley and Kant called to mind that all is only
phenomenon of the brain, and is encumbered by so many great and different subjective
conditions that its supposed absolute reality vanishes, and leaves room for an entirely different
world-order that lies at the root of that phenomenon; in other words, is related to it as is the
thing-in-itself to the mere appearance.”

From a materialist side, it can be mentioned that La Mettrie published (1748) an essay
entitled “The man-machine” in which stated that the human body functions as a
machine, capable of not only affecting the spirit but also influencing it. (La Mettrie was
a French medical doctor by profession and the philosopher-materialist by conviction).

But in spite of the criticism both from the “materialists” and the “spiritualists” side, the
Descarate´s inspired “orderly classified” human dualism idea was all but buried,
though. It was re-interpreted and used again both by Sartre and other existentialists;
under the names “in-itself” and “for-itself“ – which can be analyzed in the next Chapter
of this study.

Much earlier than modern existentialists and almost a century after Descartes that
actually started it, Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855), had developed further the ideas of the
philosophy of subjectivity. His ideas were inspired by the Cartesian concept but based
entirely on religious dualism of “flesh and soul”; as it can be illustrated by the following
text often cited by Sartre and other existentialists:
“What I really have to clarified in my mind is what I am to do, not what I am to
know… Important is to understand my own self and to see what God really wants me to
do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can
live and die.” (My underlining) “... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an
imperative of knowledge and that through it one can affect men; but it must be
assimilated into my life...”(Søren Kierkegaard, from the letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund
dated August 31, 1835).

However, even in promoting the Cartesian version of the philosophy of

subjectivity Kierkegaard emphasis the need for a personal approach in
philosophy, mentioning the example of Descartes in a way revealing his deep
appreciation for him: “Descartes was a venerable, humble and honest thinker
who did what he said and said what he did…. Whose writings no one can read
without the deepest emotion, as he did not cry "Fire!" nor did he obliged
anybody… Descartes was a quiet and solitary thinker who modestly and quietly
admitted that his method had importance for him alone…”.

It can be remarked in relation to this point that early Sartre either “…did not cry
"Fire!" nor did he obliged anybody” but had limited himself to ontological discussions
and some existentialism inspired literature and theatre. But when the Second World War
ended and the clash of ideologies became political, on the verge to become
an arm confrontation, Sartre transformed his existentialism in a flag waiving and guru
type venture; in particular oriented to young people and well educated ones.

It should be also mentioned that this short presentation of the early manifestations of
existentialist history does not dwell on the classical philosophy represented by Kant
(1724-1804) and Hegel (1770-1831); except to say that the Kierkegaard´s writings (in
particular “Either-Or”, “Fear and Trembling”, “The Present Moment”) consider the
human existence problem as an idea of the philosophy of subjectivity; while the classical
ontology writings, culminated in those by Kant and Hegel, were still mostly
preoccupied with the integral existence problem and with finding its, possible objective,
rules to be formulated in Logic and Dialectic.
(Sartre developed his existentialism on the principles of subjectivity and rejected any
“objective rules” governing the destiny of human beings – a subject to be elaborated in
the next chapter).

It should be mentioned also that the first systematic criticism of the above-described
Cartesian dualism was started by Baruch Spinoza, who is considered presently as one
of the precursors of the great philosophy of Enlightenment described in the next Section.
Spinosa did it using a combination of both scientific and biblical arguments, a
“cocktail” more tolerated by the Lutheran Protestantism prevailing in northern part of
Europe of his time.

*
The reign of the brain (The Age of the reason)
“To be a human person is to be a being capable of intelligent thinking that can know
itself as itself” - John Locke (1632–1704).

The Descartes´ version of the “Philosophy of subjectivity” draw the attention of the
than scientific society to the individual human being and his, or her, personal existential
problems. But its limitations and, especially, its presumed but not scientifically proved
dualism of the human body (brain) and the soul, could not satisfy the purely empirical
requirements of the 18-the century and its exact Science and Enlightenment. Besides, it
should not be forgotten that Descartes still worked on his theories under the Church
power to prescribe and even condemn to death extremely radical thinkers.

One of the first and the very basic postulate of the Age of the reason was a doubt
regarding the survival of human soul after death. The Christian faith was very clear on
that point: while our physical bodies may perish, the spiritual one, the Soul, continue its
existence. And nobody, at last not publicly, dared to write, or show on the stage, about a
possibility that after a person’s death everything would perish. Not before Shakespeare
and the Elizabethan reign in England (1558–1603) at least. And not before the Thirty
years war waged in Europe was coming to the end 1648; coinciding with the gradual
introduction of Protestant reformation in Northern Europe.

During the Elizabethan times in England Shakespeare in his drama introduced a clear
concern about the meaning of human life and its ultimate ends (considering both its
valor “weight” and total perish after death).

Let us just recall these lines from Shakespear´s “Hamlet”:

“What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how

infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable…-and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?”

Some times later Voltaire, on the onset of the Age of reason in continental Europe,
wrote well-known verses: “Is our Spirit surviving ourselves? Alas! It will perish as
well.” And the than much debilitated church authorities in France, escaping from the
Vatican dictum, did not impede him to write also: "Liberty of thought is the life of the
soul." (In an Essay on Epic Poetry, 1727).

During the same period (mid-eighteenth century) Rouseau introduced the notion of the
“natural laws” that governed the primitive (pre-human) condition, i.e. without morality
norms. It is the same situation in which all the animals still are; except that the so called
“social animals”, such ants and bees, do obey the established norms by their own
internal “social contract” – mostly following the division of labors. As the human
society developed, however, the division of labor became too complex and the
introduction of the private property required the humans to adopt institutions of law.

For such observations, not much disputed nowadays, and for the obvious reference to
“natural laws” as a root to moral ones, Voltaire ironized Rouseau´s theses in a letter to
him saying: “One feels like crawling on all fours after reading your work”. (One can
only imagine what Voltaire would say if he could read Darwin (1809-1882). Or Sartre
for that matter.)

But even if Rouseau´s human development ideas more resemble laters, i.e. Darwinist’s
ones, his literary and essayistic writings are oriented to individual persons and their
problems in every day life. Just to mention here: “Émile: or, On Education” and
sentimental novel Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse where the main characters are no more
Kings and noble gents, but common folks facing the existence problems. His
“Discourse on the Origin of Inequality” and his “On the Social Contract” are, since the
French revolution, influencing modern political and social thinking. The last mentioned
essay “On the social contract” (1762) contains the slogan: “Man is born free but only
later is enchained” that Sartre used as a cornerstone of his existential freedom theory.

It should be mentioned here that English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) was, if
not a precursor, certainly one who influenced the coming of the European (continental)
“Age of reason”. This was the time when the Anglo-Saxon “empirical” spirit and way
of thinking of the Elizabethan era started to mingle with the ideas of the French
Enciclopedists and later of those inspiring the French revolution; ablate interpreted in
different ways. John Lock started by opposing Descartes ideas of duality between the
human spirit and the brain, arriving in his empirically oriented research to some ideas
that could have been Sartre´s too; but some more than 200 years before! In his “An
Essay concerning human understanding” Lock postulated that there are no ideas
“stamped upon the mind” from birth, as all human knowledge is rooted in practical
experience. His personal identity theory favoring human identity formation based on
such experiences rather than on the innate ideas also resembles closely Sartre´s
existentialist concepts of Ego building through the every day’s action.

Adam Smith and David Hume represented also British (or more precisely: Scottish)
empiricism that eventually has been transformed into the philosophies inspired by
pragmatism; frequently going on opposing rails taken by modern existentialism (Sartre,
Camus and others). It should be mentioned that the historical and economical
conditions of Europe during and after “Elizabethans era” were also becoming different.
While actively participating in Napoleon’s and later wars in Europe, the English
speaking countries remained only indirectly involved and achieved vigorous industrial
revolution. All this was backed by conquest of new colonies worldwide where they not
only exploited natural resource but found the market for its products (example: export
of textile products to India). Smith’s friend David Hume is now recognized as one of
the most influential “British empiricists”; in particular for his philosophical works —“ A
Treatise of Human Nature” (1740), the “Enquiries concerningHumanUnderstanding”
(1748) and “Concerning the Principles of Morals” (1751), that address the human
social and existential problems from radically opposite aspect than Sartre and for that
reason is a must for any study of the roots of modern existentialism.
Hume’s academic colleague, Adam Smith, can be considered also as a precursor of the
“free market” economic and consumers´ social concept. In addition to that, Smith was a
professor of ethics whose moral teaching can be cited here as diametrically opposite to
Sartre’s individualistic ethic theory (a human personality is re-born every day), based
on denigration of any in-born human nature; as it can be seen from the fragments
taken from Smith’s “The Theory of Moral Sentiments”:
“Man, it has been said, has a natural love for society… The orderly and flourishing state of
society is agreeable to him, and he takes delight in contemplating it. Its disorder and confusion,
on the contrary, is the object of his aversion, and he is chagrined at whatever tends to produce
it. He is sensible too that his own interest is connected with the prosperity of society, and that
the happiness, perhaps the preservation of his existence, depends upon its preservation. Upon
every account, therefore, he has an abhorrence at whatever can tend to destroy society, and is
willing to make use of every means, which can hinder so hated and so dreadful an event.”

It should be also mentioned that Adam Smith’s social and economic theory eventually
was opposed by Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), but it is a topic of the next chapter of this
study.

*
Human sensibility re-discovered (From Minstrel culture to Sigmund
Freud)

The human and very personal areas of love and sensuality, including sexuality, were
well represented in ancient Greek and Roman art and literature. With the notable
exception of the post-Roman medieval period of early Christianity, these topics started
to flourish again during the Renaissance. After centuries when they were completely
banned by the Inquisition that systematically censored any open manifestation of
common versions of love inspired sensuality, these topics surfaced (a blight rather
symbolically) in the heroic epics of the Middle Ages and were at first transmitted orally,
by popular singers or actors.

The human individuality in these epics, as it was the epic of “Roland” - a popular
legendary figure in the medieval France, Spain and wherever the so-called Minstrel
cultures prevailed. They treated mostly heroic figures with warrior’s traits – probably
inspired also by the Crusades military ventures. (Later similar epics surged in Germany,
Russia and in other European countries).

But as the grip of the Inquisition became looser, human individual’s common life
problems and his, or she, existence dilemma, gradually replaced the heroic figures and
their destiny in general. It was still done on the bases of medieval epics or legends,
while maintaining the same principal personalities, but giving them more common
human traits and feelings. Destinies of common human beings, individual worries in
solving the problems of daily life of Marias, Martins, Georges or Annas started to be
dealt with in existential spirit.

In this context we should mention again William Shakespeare and, in particular, his
“no-royalties” inspired plays such as, for example “Romeo and Juliet”. While in ACT 5
(SCENE I) ROMEO says: “--- And breathed such life with kisses in my lips, That I
revived, and was an emperor. Ah me! how sweet is love itself possess'd, When but love's
shadows are so rich in joy!”; JULIET (in the same SCENE I) replies, in old English but
completely in modern sense: ”O gentle Romeo, If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully:
Or if thou think'st I am too quickly won, I'll frown and be perverse an say thee nay, So thou
wilt woo; but else, not for the world.”

Another, much recent, example of the influence of the rapid progress of Philosophy of
subjectivity as applied in literature can be found in Goethe’s epic drama-poems “Faust”
(its final version was published posthumous 1832). “Faust” and his “Werter” were
among the books, which contributed to changing the “heroic” tradition in public
literature. Goethe’s “Werter” (published 1774 as: “The Sorrows of Young Werther”)
was completely immerged into sensible and very personal area of love and sensuality.
“The Sorrows of Young Werther” (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers in German) was
written partially as an autobiographical novel - probably first of the kind in the world
literature (a revised edition of it was published in 1787 and, within a year, was
translated into English).

In case of “Faust” it should be also mentioned that four years after Johann Spies
published an earlier version of it in German (under the name “Historia von D. Johann
Fausten”), Christopher Marlow adapted its English version and published it in
London. Translation of it was done in a few other European languages.

“Faust” and “Werther” were published during the era of German literature
denominated as the “Sturm and Drang” (Storm and urge in English – note its existential
context) and, together with the similar contemporary works in the rest of Europe,
initiated the Romantic literary movement in novels, drama and poetry.

It should be particularly emphasized that Goethe in his “Faust” treated some crucial
problems of “Philosophy of life”, such as the human temporality and the pact with the
evil forces as a possible solution to it; categories that eventually became among the
predilect subjects of Sartre’s existentialism.

According to the Internet “Wikipedia”, the Dostoyevsky´s Notes from the Underground
(1864) is considered by many to be the world's first existentialist fictional novel.
Walter Kaufmann called it "best overture for existentialism ever written" (1975).
Similar opinion can be found in Will Durant´s The Pleasures of Philosophy (1953).

Dostoyevsky also wrote some memoirs-type pieces showing that he not only
extensively traveled through Europe but also was well acquainted with the works not
only of Shakespeare but also of Pascal, Victor Hugo and other exponents of
Romanticism. Before his exile to Siberia Dostoyevsky had some leftist political
sympathies and read progressive publications too. His complete devotion to the
Christian Orthodox Church started after the return from the exile.

“If there is no God, everything is permitted” is an often cited quote from Dostoyevsky´s
The Brothers Karamazov (1880) which is usually interpreted in religious sense, i.e. as a
devastating criticism of atheism. But there is a possible different interpretation. One can
reason also as follows: `If there is no God, is there any moral view, which keep the
humanity ethically coherent? ` (In the next chapter there is an attempt to show if
Sartre’s existentialism can offer a solution).
Another Russian literate from the same period, with an inclination to describing
existential type of traumas and despair among his personalities, was Nikolai
Vasilievich Gogol. His personality in The Overcoat (1842), for example, representing a
humble public employee worried about his official uniform, pre sages Franc Kafka´s
description of lunatic atmosphere in which burocracy imprisons its subjects – an
example of Sartre’s suppressed free will.

Some scientists and medical doctors who worked in the domain of psychology during
the 19-th century, and in particular Sigmund Freud, entered into existential type of
problems while studding the stress situation of their patients. Freud, for example, in his
essay entitled "Dostoyevsky and Parricide" (1928), argued that father's personality
complex influenced the erratic behavior of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov in
Dostoyevsky´s famous novel.

Although the Freud’s postulates in his psychoanalysis are still questioned by medical
scientists, his contribution to the philosophy of subjectivity and to the introduction of
latent sexuality urge as a category of modern Existentialism is considered very
important. In particular during the later, “post-ontological”, development of its Sartre’s
version. (Sartre himself wrote a few works devoted to Freud)

And to finish the fragments on sensibility and revealed sexuality impulse behind human
behavior, it can be mentioned that eventually, after the Second World War, there
occurred an unlikely artistic cooperation between Sartre and the north-American movie
director John Huston. It is customary to believe that it was a result of Huston’s interest
in hypnosis. But, at least as Sartre is concerned, the story has an existential
background. Immediately after the war, returning to New York from the army, Huston
directed Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit in a Broadway’s theatre. Stimulated by the
success of it he wanted to direct No Exit as a full time movie. Nothing came out of the
project but, when Huston eventually decided to direct a movie on Sigmund Freud, he
remembered Sartre and decided to engage him as a scriptwriter.

But result was something like engaging Dante to write verses for Marilyn Monroe
song presentation; as Sartre produced a manuscript of a few hundred pages that had to
be, in Huston’s view, not only cut but also completely redrafted! The name of the
movie, when it was finally finished, was “Freud, the Secret Passion”. Sartre, when
seeing the redrafted scenario, informed Huston that he wants his name withdrawn from
the movie titles and its poster. The end result of all this was that, after mutual criticism
and some noise in the contemporary press, Huston returned to the carrier in film
industry following his pragmatic paradigm while Sartre continued with his attempt to
re-build his existentialism; attempting to “guru” it in the manner of Buddhist pattern, as
described in the next chapter of this study.

All these events, together with a rapid progress in scientific research by the turn from 19
to 20 centuries, threw a new light not only on the perception of human being as such but
on an integral human conception of the world (“weltanschauung” - philosophy of life).
 *
Engagement as a life potential impulse
"Many things are considered as impossible until they are actually done!"
Pliny the Elder (From his“Historia naturalis”)

By citing the ancient Roman warrior and historian-philosopher Pliny the Elder we are
entering the stage of “engagement” which eventually dominated the second, post
“ontological”, phase in the development of Sartre’s existentialism. In this connection,
Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche should be mentioned as the much
recent predecessors of Sartre’s moral theory and the “life philosophy” concept. These
two, together with much more pacifically oriented Henry Bergson and Max Scheler,
attempted to find hidden impulses which urge men and women to be engaged
individually and to act within a free determined philosophy of life.

Schopenhauer in his “The World as Will and Representation” (1918) indicated that the
individually determined human intentions (sublimated in human Will) can not only
move the mountains but also help suppress the anguish provoked by pessimistic view of
the existence in the world. In Schopenhauer's view the existing world is really what we
recognize as the result of our will-power. A hundred year before Sartre he felt that
there was a need for a change not only in literature presentation of human life but also
in “Weltanschauung”, or “Lebensphilosophie” in German (the Philosophy of life in
English). He opted for prevailing pessimism and, also on this point, he influenced
Sartre and Camus, as well as numerous other writers.

Friedrich Nietzsche, according to Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy was a

philosopher “whose convictions challenged the very foundation of Christianity”. His
philosophy was well studied by Sartre during his post-diploma stay in Germany.
Nietzsche’s attack against the traditional morality made him famous but resulted in a
number of opponents as well. Also referred to as one of the first existentialist
philosophers Nietzsche came to the conclusion that emotional, physical, and sexual
desires can never be entirely fulfilled and that it is the permanent source of our despair
and anxiety.

Nietzsche recommended a lifestyle similar to the teachings of Vedanta and Buddhism to

alleviate human anxiety. However, his late post-Darwinist kind of ideas of “superman”
(Übermensch in German) was extensively used by Hitler in developing his racist
concept of Arian supremacy and of his dream of white Arian controlled Europe and
Asia. (Hitler also toyed with a project of dividing the World between Anglo-Americans
and European Arians authorities).

Henri Bergson´s conception of metaphysics as a necessary complement to scientific

investigation of reality affirms the difference in kind between matter and spirit (or
memory or life – as he terms it). He argues for the necessity of introducing two
methods, namely scientific intellect and philosophical intuition, to investigate different
realities. His essay The Two Sources of Morality and Religion (1932), was one of the
obvious sources for Sartre´s critics of ontological intuitive dualism and, eventually, for
development of his ethical concept based on engagement.

German philosopher of phenomenology Max Scheler, who was a specialist in

philosophy of social science, is important for the study of Sartre’s social concept and
the problem of an individual human being in relation to “the others”. He is known for
his value ethics, as well as a founder of philosophical anthropology and the sociology of
knowledge. The Nazi party in Germany banned his writings. Scheler presented his
sociology of knowledge in the Society and the Forms of Knowledge and in the
Cognition and Work (1926) where he considers the three forms of knowledge: of
salvation (religious knowledge), of essences (philosophical knowledge), and of rational
control (scientific knowledge). He considers Pragmatism as valid approach, but only
within the domain of scientific knowledge.

The philosophers from the 19-th and the beginning of 20-th century mentioned here do
not complete the list of the important thinkers from the period. However, they are cited
in this section as those who attempted, as Sartre did during his post-Second World War
period, to build up a modern “Lebensphilosophie” that integrates the philosophical, the
scientific and the social development of Europe.

Please note that the philosophers considered as modern existentialists are presented in
the next chapter of this study, provisionally titled as “SARTRE XXI”.

Introduction for “Sartre XXI” study

– In drafting stage

From the above essay on the roots of Sartre’s version of rationalism and existentialism
it can be concluded that classical philosophy is reduced now days to Pragmatism and
Existentialism, which are both, in a way, similar but in substance divergent. Similar is
the way they both excludes Religion in their basic ontological concepts: Sartre’s
existentialism by eliminating the notion of God altogether and Pragmatism by letting it
entirely to different churches and their dogmas. And the main difference consists in
their approach.

While enlisting followers: Pragmatism counts on obvious material stimulus provided by

practical scientific and technological progress as well as on the rapid economic
unhindered development. Sartre’s existentialism, on the other hand, is based on
unhindered free will of all and on the need to determine (define) the human person
every day on the bases of his, or her, engaged action.
(Please note that more of the substantial divergences between two remaining basic
philosophies are among the subjects of the “Sartre XXI” presently in drafting stage).

*
ADDENDUM
(Names of the authors whose works are mentioned in the study - listed by birth year).

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

René Descartes (1596–1650)
Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662)
John Locke (1632–1704)
Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 – 1716)
George Berkeley (1685 – 1753)
Voltaire (1694-1778)
Julien Offroy de La Mettrie (1709 –1733)
David Hume (1711-1776)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778)
Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784)
Adam Smith (1723–1790)
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832)
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860)
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809 - 1852)
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855)
Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 – 1883)
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (1821– 1881)
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 – 1900)
Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939)
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (1859 – 1938)
Henri Bergson (1859–1941)
Franz Kafka (1883 –1924)
Karl Theodor Jaspers (1883 – 1969)
William James Durant (1885 - 1981)
Martin Heidegger (1889 – 1976)
Sartre Jean-Paul (1905 – 1980)
Walter Arnold Kaufmann (1921 – 1980)