Being and Nothingness
An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology
by Jean-Paul Sartre · L'Être et le néant
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1943
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- French
- Length
- Epic · 850 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Formidable5 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendBeing and Nothingness, translated by Hazel E. BarnesWashington Square Press, 1993The translation everyone cites, with a long index that makes the vocabulary navigable.
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Sartre's systematic existentialism, written in occupied Paris. He divides reality into being-in-itself, the solid given world, and being-for-itself, consciousness, which is nothing in itself and exists only as the negation of what it is not. Because consciousness is not a thing, it is condemned to be free, and the elaborate ways people deny this are what Sartre calls bad faith. Long middle sections analyse the body, the look of other people, shame, love, sadism and masochism as failed attempts to become an object for another, and the book closes on existential psychoanalysis and the useless passion of wanting to be God.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Being and Nothingness are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
