Today’s topic is 20th century French philosopher - Jean-Paul Sartre and his idea of “man reconstructing himself.” Sartre was the doyen of existentialism. Existentialism, according to Dictionary.com is "the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will." Sartre, however, was also a Marxist. He wrote the preface in Frantz Fanon's book "The Wretched of the Earth." In the preface, you find Sartre’s view of reconstr...
Today’s topic is 20th century French philosopher - Jean-Paul Sartre and his idea of “man reconstructing himself.” Sartre was the doyen of existentialism. Existentialism, according to Dictionary.com is "the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will."
Sartre, however, was also a Marxist. He wrote the preface in Frantz Fanon's book "The Wretched of the Earth." In the preface, you find Sartre’s view of reconstruction. This is important because of his influence on society’s view of human nature, which at its simplest - is that man is his own God, and salvation comes through some sort of rebirth through a violent overturning of those in control. This is man’s path to in Sartre's words: “reconstructing himself”. If it sounds a lot like being reborn (like Christians are reborn - or born again), it’s because it is. It is Sartre’s playbook on how to gain salvation.
I pull out 10 points covered in this preface from Sartre. The points show how the evolution of man inside a colonial system. The first point is when Sartre defines two sets of men: elites and natives. The other points cover the natives waking up to their plight to the justification of the natives’ violent uprising, to the realization that man is reconstructed or reborn through this violent process. This rebirth is similar to man being reborn in the spirit of Jesus Christ. Two different polar opposite paths. One embraces violence, the other embraces the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, etc. Which path do you want to take?
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