Jean-Paul Sartre's Reading List
The 6 books that shaped Jean-Paul Sartre — philosopher & playwright.
Leading existentialist who argued that existence precedes essence — we are condemned to be free and must create our own meaning.
Influential Books
Being and Nothingness
Jean-Paul Sartre(1943)
Sartre's magnum opus — existence precedes essence. The philosophical foundation for existentialism.
Nausea
Jean-Paul Sartre(1938)
Sartre's first novel — a man discovers the radical contingency of existence. Philosophy as visceral fiction.
Being and Time
Martin Heidegger(1927)
Heidegger's phenomenology was the launching point for Sartre's own existentialism, even as he departed from it.
The Phenomenology of Spirit
G.W.F. Hegel(1807)
Hegel's dialectics of consciousness shaped Sartre's understanding of freedom, otherness, and the "look."
The Stranger
Albert Camus(1942)
Sartre wrote a famous review praising Camus' novel before their friendship — and philosophical alliance — collapsed.
No Exit
Jean-Paul Sartre(1944)
"Hell is other people." Sartre's one-act play about three souls trapped together for eternity.