Existentialism and Human Emotion (A Philosophical Library Book)

About this book

In this provocative philosophical analysis Jean-Paul Sartre refutes the idea that existentialism drains meaning from human life by claiming that the philosophy instead gives man total freedom to achieve his own significance Sartres Existentialism and Human Emotions is a stirring defense of existentialist thought which argues that existence precedes essence. While attacks on existentialism claim that the philosophy leads to a kind of nihilistic gloom Sartre contends that instead existentialism is the only path toward giving man meaning. Sartre ultimately argues that by the very absence of a priori meaning an individual can discover and shape his or her own significance and place in the world. Sartre turns the typical nihilistic definition of existentialism on its head in this optimistic take on his best-known theory.