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The internationally acclaimed biography of Sartre in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The first volume in the Lives of the Left series, Annie Cohen-Solal's Sartre is a remarkable achievement. "A sensation" upon its initial publication in France, as the New York Times reported, Sartre was subsequently translated into sixteen languages and went on to become an international bestseller, appealing to the broadest audience. First published in the United States in 1987, it is the definitive biography of a man and an age, an intimate portrait of a complex life.A major accomplishment of this biography is that it places Sartre in the context of history while at the same time reassessing the full import of his literary and political accomplishments. Discovering untold aspects of Sartre's private and political life, Cohen-Solal weaves together all the elements of an exceptional career. From the fascinating description of his hitherto-unknown father to the painful last moments of Sartre's own declining years, this is biography on the grandest scale, fully deserving of the praise it has received. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sartre - the essayist.
This selection of essays by J.P. Sartre seemingly choosen at random, presents his authentic and multi-dimensional view of philosophical, cultural and political issues among wchicha reader can find a literary black sounding note written after the death of his friend Albert Camus revealing their true commitement ... Read more

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A collection of letters by the author of Being and Nothingness depicts Sartre as a soldier, a prisoner of the Germans, and a man of Resistance and charts his path to fame with the publication of his major works. ... Read more

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El filosofo frances Jean-Paul Sastre publica en 1943 El ser y la nada, obra en la que se halla expuesta y sistematizada su metafisica. Este ensayo de ontologia fenomenologica define el ambito en el que operan el en si y el para si, asociados respectivamente al ser absoluto y el ser consciente, y postula la tesis central del existencialismo sartreano: el yo no es puro espiritu, sino conciencia determinada por unas circunstancias. ... Read more

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A criticism of modern psychology in general and Freud's determinism in particular. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Speculative? System-building?Abstract? Gut-wrenching!
This work consists of 2 excerpts from Satre's "Being and Nothingness". What's new is a 17 page introduction by Rollo May. Although May admires Sartre, he does present key differences he has with Sartre, so this intro has some teeth in it. Even as excerpts, there's about 200 pages of meaty exposition that saves you lugging around "Being And Nothingness" if this subset is yourfocus.

Sartre builds up a big, abstract, speculative system, apparently as a framework for his belief in human freedom, choice, and responsibility. What does this construction accomplish that simple assertions wouldn't of our freedom, our not being determined, our defining ourself via our yet-to-be-accomplished projects, our responsibility rooted in our unavoidable need to make choices? Perhaps both emphasis (you'll be less likely to forget you are free), elaboration (you'll learn more what being free as well as trying not to be implies), and examples (you'll learn more of the ways in which people try to avoid the weight of their freedom).

Even if the experts tell you they have you all figured out, you'll have decide whether to buy that or not. Even if you want to be all figured out and delivered from uncertainty, they (and you) may be wrong. If Sartre only argued for our individual freedoms, he wouldn't be so important. It is in his exploration of the ways in which we cringe from our freedom, of our "bad faith", that he connects and makes what seems a speculative, abstract system instead a powerful emotional truth.

Excellent Book
I read this book in one sitting and found it to be very informative. In outlining the basis for an existentialist psychoanalysis, Sartre gives interesting and riveting existential perspectives on the human situation. I would recommend anyone with an interest in philosophy, psychology, and thehuman situation in general to give this book a try. ... Read more

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Truth and Existence, written in response to Martin Heidegger's Essence of Truth, is a product of the years when Sartre was reaching full stature as a philosopher, novelist, playwright, essayist, and political activist. This concise and engaging text not only presents Sartre's ontology of truth but also addresses the key moral questions of freedom, action, and bad faith.

Truth and Existence is introduced by an extended biographical, historical, and analytical essay by Ronald Aronson.

"Truth and Existence is another important element in the recently published links between Sartre's existentialist ontology and his later ethical, political, and literary concerns. . . . The excellent introduction by Aronson will help readers not experienced in reading Sartre."--Choice

"Accompanied by an excellent introduction, this dense, lucidly translated treatise reveals Sartre as a characteristically 20th-century figure."--Publishers Weekly ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Addition to Being and Nothingness
Further developing themes laid out in earlier works, specifically truth and ignorance as it relates to Being.The prose is dense at times, and you can tell in many places that this book was published unfinished-once in a while the ideas meander or are not clearly defined.Nevertheless, I found it to be a highly interesting read containing ideas that are both philosophically intriguing and personally relevant.A companion piece to Baing and Nothingness.

I don't speak French so I cannot personally evaluate the translation job, but the English here flows well enough.Highly recommended. ... Read more

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Brings together the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and Zen Buddhism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Read and re-read
This book is rich in insight and throughness.Yes, you need time to read it, but Laycock has taken an idea that I've thrown around in my own mind for some time and expanded on it with a philospher's throughness.
I am aware that similar arguments are available in Asian texts, but with a Westerner's skepticism, I needed a good Western argument to convince me!

Little if Anything
First I feel obliged to say something nice about this work and have to say that any work that looks at one complex writer's ontology through the challenging frame of a concept like emptiness in Buddhist philosophy deserves some commendation. Laycock's work is, however, too dry, scholastic and obscurantist. Whatever his subjective experience, if he writes for the general public then he should try to imagine the needs of his reader. He should do a basic writing course as well. I also found more accessible accounts of Sartre's work and its similarity to early Buddhist epistomology and ontology by Asisan authors. I also found Sartre's "Being and Nothingness" much easier to read than Laycock's flight of associations.

Contrary to the Prior Review. . .
I actually quite enjoyed this. No, it's certainly not for someone with a passing interest in Philosophy; likewise for someone with a minor vocabulary. It is, absolutely, a difficult work. But Laycock seems interested in preserving his ideas in the honeycombed Literary modes of Phenomenology, Existentialism and (a relatively esoteric form of) Buddhism, and succeeds by acheiving a work as complex as it is. This defines the barrier for the average reader though, regardless of how versed they are in "jargon."Laycock is painstaking in his analysis, both in its poesis and its content, and the book is certainly worth the time if you are deeply interested in any of the aforementioned doctrines. However, as the other reviewer exemplifies, if you're not able to really dig in and spend a few minutes with each page (literally so, it's a SLOW read), you may as well use it as a fan instead. Overall, though, _Nothingness and Emptiness_ turns out to be a wonderful experience of rich, meditative philosophy, challenging and rewarding in its complexity and linguisticdepth. Laycock's assertions and conclusions (especially those involving Nagarjuna and Madhyamaka Buddhism) are absolutely fascinating even if one is compelled to disagree at times. But the end result is an expanded and appreciative view of Mahayana Buddhism, and an absolutely exploded take on Sartrean Existentialism/Phenomenology.I feel the book is deserving of far better than one solitary, short-sighted bash--give it a try. If you've any interest in either half of Laycock's equation (i.e.- Buddhism OR Sartre) you'll be surprisingly welcomed if you attempt it with patience and an empty mind.

I want my money back.
The book reads like an academic journal whose audience enjoys reading in the jargon of its highly specialized field. I don't recommend this book at all. Boring...I want my money back. ... Read more