Running head: SARTRE AND MARXISM

Syed Hamdan Mustafa

SARTRE AND MARXISM

century. His indefatigable pursuit of philosophical reflection, literary creativity and, in the
second half of his life, active political commitment gained him worldwide renown, if not
admiration. He is commonly considered the father of Existentialist philosophy, whose
writings set the tone for intellectual life in the decade immediately following the Second
World War (Flynn, 2013). Sartre is often known for his famous sayings such as Hell is other
People. This was a part of his play No Exit which was a 1944 existentialist play that won
the award for the best play of the year.
To understand the relation between Sartre and Marxism, it is important to understand
existentialism. The basic definition for existentialism is that it is a philosophy that
emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. It is the view that humans define their
own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational
universe. Philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Neitzche, Heidegger and Sartre fall under the
existentialist branch of philosophy. However, the main difference between Sartre and the
other existentialists is that Sartre used his philosophy to fight oppression, improve the society
as a whole as opposed to improving only oneself as an individual. Although he wrote little on
ethics or politics prior to World War II, political themes dominated his writings from 1945
onwards. Sartre co-founded the journal Les Temps Modernes, which would publish many
seminal essays on political theory and world affairs. The most famous example is Sartres
Anti-Semite and Jew, a blistering criticism of French complicity in the Holocaust which also
put forth the general thesis that oppression is a distortion of interpersonal recognition
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(Heter). In the 1950s, Sartre moved towards Marxism and eventually released Critique of
Dialectical Reason; which was a massive, systematic account of history and group struggle.
Moving onto Marxism, no other idea enchanted the 20th century like Marxism did.
Marxism is a form of analysis that focusses on class relations and societal conflicts. Karl
Marx was the inspiration for Marxism. Marxism uses a materialistic view and rejects
idealism. Marxism, just like existentialism, is a rejection of Hegelianism (referring to G.W.F
Hegel). Marxism was influenced by the Philosophy of Right written by Hegel. The book
provoked a massive amount of tension which leads to the division of two branches of
Hegelians. The right Hegelians believed that Hegel meant that political ideas and
intellectuals, not violent reactions will lead to a revolution. The left Hegelians (also known as
Marxists) believed that freedom can only be achieved when the capitalist system is outthrown. Karl Marx believed that intellectuals had no role and that only the working class will
lead the revolution. This is the dogma of the 19th century Marxism. Karl Marx predicted at a
certain point in time in the future, the capitalist system will be overthrown. This will take
place, according to Marx, when the working class revolts because of their woeful social
conditions.
Sartre was the only existentialist who tried to break the barriers between
Existentialism and Marxism. He said that the two groups had the same common purpose; the
issue of freedom. Sartre wanted to unite the two groups against capitalism. In his later years,
he turned his focus to the struggling working class of the society and he said that we will all
meet again. He was implying that an effort will be made to improve the social conditions of
the people. The work associated with this is known as the Critique of Dialectical Reasoning,
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is a 1960 book by Sartre in which he further develops the existentialist Marxism he first
expounded in his essay Search for a Method (1957). Critique of Dialectical Reason and
Search for a Method were written as a common manuscript, with Sartre intending the former
to logically precede the latter.
Critique of Dialectical Reason has been seen by some as an abandonment of Sartre's
original existentialism, which focused more on individuals and not the society. According to
Detmer, In Search for a Method, Sartre displays uncharacteristic modesty is settling the
terms for reconciliation (2008). He claims that Marxism is the philosophy of our time, and
that existentialism is a mere ideology, a practical system living on the margin of
knowledge, which at first opposed but into which today it seeks to be integrated.
Dialectic materialism is regarded as a scientific law that determines historical
development according to Marxism. Western intellectuals remained interested in Marxism in
spite of the fact they were said to have no role in it. The Marxist intellectuals in the 20 th
century argue that ideology is an important factor in maintaining a capitalist system. It
should not be ignored; this is how the intellectuals became offered since they offered an
alternative ideology. Sartre said that we are all responsible for both, what we do and what we
do not do in our personal and political lives. This urged the intellectuals to come out and
make contributions towards helping the conditions of the social working class. Marxist
intellectuals also tried to explain why Karl Marxs prediction about the capitalist system
being overthrown did not come into action. Sartre also criticized the traditional Marxist view
that material conditions determine human behavior. Sartre believed that only choices made
freely by people can determine human behavior.
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Sartre believed that the capitalist system was the source of artificial scarcity. He
claimed that there was a disproportionate sharing of the wealth that keeps some workers in
poverty. Sartre also believed that a system that has violence should be dealt with by violence.
This theory was heavily criticized by Albert Cumus, a successful writer, who stated that
violence is not the answer and it only leads to more violence. Cumus said Sartre was just a
writer who resisted, not a resister who wrote.
While a Marxist, Sartre attacked what he saw as abuses of freedom and human rights
by the Soviet Union. He was one of the first French journalists to expose the existence of the
labor camps, and vehemently opposed the invasion of Hungary, Russian anti-Semitism, and
the execution of dissidents. As an anti-colonialist, Sartre took a prominent role in the struggle
against French rule in Algeria, and the use of torture and concentration camps by the French
in Algeria (Mszros, 2012). He also opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and,
along with Bertrand Russell and others, organized a tribunal intended to expose U.S. war
crimes, which became known as the Russell Tribunal in 1967.
The turning point of Sartres philosophical career which compelled him to write about
politics was the Spanish Civil War, a civil war that took place from 1936-1939. According to
Aronson, the world itself destroyed Sartre's illusions about isolated self-determining
individuals and made clear his own personal stake in the events of the time. He did not
dogmatically follow a cause other than the belief in human freedom, preferring to retain a
pacifist's objectivity. Therefore, he was able to hold knowledge across a vast array of
subjects: "the international world order, the political and economic organization of
contemporary society, especially France, the institutional and legal frameworks that regulate
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the lives of ordinary citizens, the educational system, and the media networks that control
and disseminate information. Sartre systematically refused to keep quiet about what he saw
as inequalities and injustices in the world.
Sartre had a big effect on the 20th century, some of the reforms include: minimum
wage laws, unemployment insure, abolition of child labor and workers negotiating in a union
rather than doing it individually. This ensured that there would be less inequality between the
people. It was very important for Sartre that people always had the utmost freedom. This is
how Sartre defined freedom in an interview (1970, New Left Review London):
The idea I have never ceased to develop is that in the end you are always
responsible for what is made of you. Even if you can do nothing else besides
assume this responsibility. I believe that a man can always make something
out of what is made of him. This is freedom . . .
There is no doubt as to why Sartre is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of
the 20th century. He was a man of passion who acted upon what he thought was right. Sartres
lasting contribution is his unflinching commitment to human freedom in a world that resists
us, his insistence that we can always make more out of what has already been made of us,
and in his challenge to traditional morality that our responsibility lies not in our attachment
to duty, obligation or obedience to some presumed authority, but in our own creative
endeavors to carve out meaning and value in a world among others that may more closely
approximate our most deeply held ideals (Linsenbard, 2010). Every person in the world has a
right to be free and there should be no force in the world that should confine that.

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Detmer, D. (2008). Sartre Explained: From Bad Faith to Authenticity. New York, NY, USA:
Open Court. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Flynn, T. (2013). Jean Paul Sartre. Retrieved from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/sartre/
Heter, S. (n.d.). Sartre's Political Philosophy. Retrieved from Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/sartre-p/#H4
Istvn Mszros, The Work of Sartre: Search for Freedom and the Challenge of History,rev. ed.
(New York: Monthly Review, 2012), p. 16
Linsenbard, G. (2010). Starting with Sartre. London, GBR: Continuum International Publishing.
Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com