Jean-Paul Sartre's ethics of authenticity : an analysis and defence
The elaboration of a Sartrean ethics based upon Sartre' s ontological treatise Being and Nothingness has been, and still is, a much debated and controversial issue. Some critics have forcefully denied that an ethical position can be derived from the notions of freedom and value which are set forth by Sartre in his early ontology, on the ground that any attempt at such an ethics ensues in an extreme subjectivism, irrationalism, and, ultimately, nihilism. Other scholars, more sympathetic to Sartre's early philosophy, have attempted to construct a Sartrean ethical theory, but some unresolved issues still emerge from their readings. My aim in this dissertation is to defend Sartre's ontology against the former kind of criticisms, and to highlight and resolve what is left insufficiently analysed by the second group of scholars. I will attempt to show, by proposing an original interpretation of a Sartrean ethics, that Sartre's early ontology provides the ground for a viable ethics and that the problems of subjectivism and nihilism find their resolution within Sartre's ontological claims. I begin by investigating Sartre's philosophical background and show how his use of HusserI's phenomenology is fundamental in order
Perna, Maria Antonietta
Philosophy
Jean-Paul Sartre's ethics of authenticity : an analysis and defence. The elaboration of a Sartrean ethics based upon Sartre' s ontological treatise Being and Nothingness has been, and still is, a much debated and controversial issue. Some critics have forcefully denied that an ethical position can be derived from the notions of freedom and value which are set forth by Sartre in his early ontology, on the ground that any attempt at such an ethics ensues in an extreme subjectivism, irrationalism, and, ultimately, nihilism. Other scholars, more sympathetic to Sartre's early philosophy, have attempted to construct a Sartrean ethical theory, but some unresolved issues still emerge from their readings. My aim in this dissertation is to defend Sartre's ontology against the former kind of criticisms, and to highlight and resolve what is left insufficiently analysed by the second group of scholars. I will attempt to show, by proposing an original interpretation of a Sartrean ethics, that Sartre's early ontology provides the ground for a viable ethics and that the problems of subjectivism and nihilism find their resolution within Sartre's ontological claims. I begin by investigating Sartre's philosophical background and show how his use of HusserI's phenomenology is fundamental in order
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