Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980), French philosopher, novelist, and playwright, was the foremost voice of existentialism. He argued that “existence precedes essence,” meaning humans are not born with predetermined purpose but must create meaning through freedom and responsibility. Sartre emphasized radical choice, authenticity, and the anguish of confronting absolute freedom. His works, Being and Nothingness and Nausea, explored consciousness, bad faith, and the absurd. Politically engaged, he opposed oppression and colonialism, advocating for human dignity. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, he famously declined it, asserting independence from institutions. Sartre’s legacy endures as a call to live deliberately, responsibly, and free.

There is no human nature, because there is no God to have a conception of it. Man simply is.