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Cover of Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre

Being and Nothingness

Jean-Paul Sartre

  • 716 pages · about 12 hours
  • First published 1943
  • 86 editions
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1 About this book

Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology (French: L'Être et le néant : Essai d'ontologie phénoménologique), sometimes published with the subtitle A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology, is a 1943 book by the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. In the book, Sartre develops a philosophical account in support of his existentialism, dealing with topics such as consciousness, perception, social philosophy, self-deception, the existence of "nothingness", psychoanalysis, and the question of free will.

While a prisoner of war in 1940 and 1941, Sartre read Martin Heidegger's Being and Time (1927), which uses the method of Husserlian phenomenology as a lens for examining ontology. Sartre attributed the course of his own philosophical inquiries to his exposure to this work.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Good for readers who want: philosophy and a long read.

  • Existential psychology
  • Existentialism
  • Philosophy
  • French Philosophy
  • Ontology
  • Phenomenology
  • Angoisse

2 About Jean-Paul Sartre

1905–1980

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, US also ; French:; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, political activist, and writer, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology) and was a proponent of Libertarian Marxism. His work has influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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