DAY 172

PHILOSOPHY OF ART

Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

CREATING BEAUTY, FINDING MEANING

“If literature isn’t everything, it’s not worth a single hour of someone’s trouble.” —Sartre

The famous 20^th-century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was a French Existentialist, which means you will be instantly cooler once you start throwing his name around. Sartre is the most recent of our philosophers—the only one born in the 20^th century. As a result, his beliefs still enjoy relatively fresh popularity in today’s classrooms and coffee shops.

Having written his own fiction, Sartre is aware of the impact art can have on people’s beliefs. In fact, one of his main strategies as a philosopher is to communicate his views through creative literature. He wants the readers of his fiction to vicariously think and feel his thoughts and feelings. In his novel Nausea, for example, he wants readers to authentically feel the sickening anguish he does when confronted with the accidental nature of human existence.

Seeing art chiefly as an intellectual pursuit, Sartre believes that every artist must commit to bettering society and taking responsibility for his or her work. This is especially important considering art’s power to evoke empathy from those who experience it. Art holds up a mirror so people can recognize their own flaws and overcome them. According to Sartre, it can help us see the indifference of the physical world and find the courage to embrace it. When we create art, its beauty lives on after we’re gone, giving lasting meaning to our otherwise insignificant lives. —CKG