On narrete pas Voltaire. You dont arrest Voltaire Jean-Paul Sartre. The great Marxist, Existentialist philosopher of 20th century from France. The one who inspired students protest all over the World. Today is his 109th birth anniversary. He was born on June 21, 1905, in Paris, France, Jean-Paul Sartre was a 20th century intellectual, writer and activist who put forth pioneering ideas on existentialism. “All human actions are equivalent and all are on principle doomed to failure.” Sartre was a pioneering intellectual and proponent of existentialism who championed leftist causes in France and other countries. He wrote a number of books, including the highly influential ‘Being and Nothingness,’ I possesses the copy too and excellent though with some differences and Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. “The meaning of mans life is not established before his existence. Once the terrible freedom is acknowledged, man has to make this meaning himself, has to commit himself to a role in this world, has to commit his freedom. And this attempt to make oneself is futile without the solidarity of others.” Sartre is also famous for his a relationship with noted intellectual, feminist and activist Simone de Beauvoir. Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyle and thought. Sartres introduction to his philosophy is his work Existentialism and Humanism. Sartre was a very active contributor to Combat, a newspaper by Albert Camus, a philosopher and author who held similar beliefs. Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in October 1964, but he declined it. He was the first Nobel Laureate to voluntarily decline the prize, and he had previously refused the Légion dhonneur, in 1945. The prize was announced on 22 October 1964; on 14 October, Sartre had written a letter to the Nobel Institute, asking to be removed from the list of nominees, and warning that he would not accept the prize if awarded. Sartre explained his refusal too as he did not wish to be transformed by such an award, and did not want to take sides in an East vs. West cultural struggle by accepting an award from a prominent Western cultural institution. Sartre after being declared the Nobel prize tried to escape the media by hiding in the house of Simones sister. His name was then a household word (as was existentialism during the cols war era of 1960s), Sartre remained a simple man with few possessions, actively committed to causes until the end of his life, such as the May 1968 strikes in Paris during the summer of 1968 during which he was arrested for civil disobedience. Then President of France Charles de Gaulle intervened and pardoned him, commenting that you dont arrest Voltaire. Many criticised and denounced Sartre as an apologist for tyranny and terror because of his support for Stalinism, Maoism, and Castros regime in Cuba. He died in 15th April 1980 in Paris, France. Sartres theoretical writings as well as his novels and plays constitute one of the main inspirational sources of modern literature. In his philosophical view atheism is taken for granted; the loss of God is not mourned. Man is condemned to freedom, a freedom from all authority, which he may seek to evade, distort, and deny but which he will have to face if he is to become a moral being. I salute this great philosopher of working class on his birth anniversary. His works are well deserved to be read by all progressive forces.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 19:46:54 +0000
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