Jean-Paul Marat

Michel Foucault (1926-84) was a great French philosopher, thinker, theorist and a literary critic in the second half of the twentieth century. His theories are largely concerned with the relationship between power and knowledge. He was born in Poitiers in France where his father was a prominent surgeon. Foucault was well versed in French, Latin and Greek. He focussed much on the study of Philosophy and studied deeply Kant, Marx, Hegel, Nietzsche and most importantly, Heidegger and Althusser. He…

A man’s life is a journey that has been pre-destined by the gods. There is always a human will towards a desire, but in the end destiny plays its own course, and makes sure that the will leads the way to the fate. No matter how much the man wants to assert his own will, in the end a man is powerless against his fate. As per the ancient Greek theatre, Sophocles play’s normally have emphasis on individual characters, the role of chorus has always been reduced, there are complex characters who are…

universe”. Senghor's anthology Anthologie de la nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache de langue française (An Anthology of the New Negro and Malagasy Poetry in French), published in 1948, along with its preface by French Philosopher and intellectual Jean-Paul Sartre found in Orphee Noir (Black Orpheus), was largely responsible for establishing the concept of Negritude at the heart of the post-war Francophone debate regarding black identity. Sartre illustrates the Negritude in terms of his…

In the genre of philosophical literature, Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger examines the life of an ordinary man, whose actions portray the concept of Absurdism. The main character, Meursault, feels like an observer of the world and lacks purpose and strives toward nothing more than having the freedom of personal choice. His choices define his personality when he is forced to face death and murder, to which he reacts in a way that shows his perception and understanding of human mortality.…

life and human consciousness led to a philosophy centered on war, suffering, and violence. This focus on violence remains when they discuss the French colonization of Algeria. The existentialist philosophers Simone de Beauvoir, Frantz Fanon, and Jean-Paul Sartre all believe that violence is the only means of casting off the chains of colonial oppression. Although they are correct in this assertion, they fail to recognize the full implications of this claim, namely, the promise of future violence…

“Existentialism is a Humanism” is based on a lecture that Sartre gave in Paris on Monday, October 29, 1945. This short exposition is the perfect student’s guide to existential thought in philosophy. For Sartre, existentialism is primarily defined by the idea that “existence precedes essence (22).” At the start of his lecture, he discusses how objects are manufactured with a pre-determined purpose or “essence” in mind thus, their essence precedes their existence. He states that many people’s…

Argumentation: Ownership To have and, if possible, to hold is to be and to do, said Jean-Paul Sartre in his essay Being and Nothingness. "The totality of my possessions reflects the totality of my being," he wrote in 1949. "I am what I have… what is mine is myself." it is seen in societal rule that we are not so much what we think or do but what brand of clothing we have, what car we drive, to the home we live in, but are those things truly ours? Sartre views on ownership is an unhealthy…

An intangible good is something that cannot be physically grasps such as knowledge or an idea. Jean-Paul Sartre argues that this can actually be very beneficial to the development of moral character. When a person is knowledgeable about the good and evil around him, he is able to be morally straight. This can also be detrimental to a person’s moral…

person, as an individual, attempting to gain the greatest amount of happiness, or at worst, the least amount of pain. Interestingly enough, there seems to be a multi-layered connection with this particular part of Freud’s analysis and the work of Jean-Paul Sartre or existentialism in general. Can one not perceive the connection between the Sartrean thrown into existence and the Freudian birth into a…

Camus’ philosophy adopts the third choice. His alternative to suicide or a false belief in some metaphysical or religious rationality is to live life in rebellion (Aronson 9). He proposes that living in defiance of the bereft condition of humanity is to live with integrity. Being fully conscious of life’s absurdity but carrying on with vigor and in earnest: this is how Camus proposes to make life worthwhile. By being aware of the human condition, Camus claims that one is taking ownership of it.…