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I always thought the real intellectual differences related to Marxism were between Merleau-Ponty and Sartre, the former having introduced Sartre to Marxism and

I always thought the real intellectual differences related to Marxism were between Merleau-Ponty and Sartre, the former having introduced Sartre to Marxism and later publicly breaking with him for his "ultra-bolshevism." Camus and Sartre seemed to have more personal differences, viz., Sartre generally being an asshole. Among other things, he considered Camus a notch beneath him intellectually, and Ive always personally believed that a big reason Sartre turned down the Nobel prize was because Camus already had one. Ive always struggled to understand Sartre's popularity even among other philosophers I respect.

dgfgfdagasdfgfa 10y ago
> Ive always struggled to understand Sartre's popularity even among other philosophers I respect. I agree completely. It is completely rankling when considering how he is compared to Simone de Beauvoir. Her "Second Sex" is considered a feminist work—and for good reason—but it surpasses any of what Sarte wrote as a philosophical work. While he did build on the backs of others, his ideas remain small compared to his contemporaries.
bykovich 10y ago
I recall reading a criticism of Sartre essentially to the effect of "he elevated anxieties of the early 20th century to eternal truths." It's an insightful observation that does double labor, serving both as grounds for serious concern about Sartre's work and as an explanation for much of its popularity.
woodandsteel 10y ago
>I always thought the real intellectual differences related to Marxism were between Merleau-Ponty and Sartre, the former having introduced Sartre to Marxism and later publicly breaking with him for his "ultra-bolshevism." Merleau-Ponty was definitely more connected to actual lived reality than Sartre was. When Marxist theory produced a horror, not paradise, he actually sort of admitted it was happening.
polarisrising 10y ago
WW2: Heidegger is the premier, German philosopher. And he's a Nazi. So the question is: what does it mean for the projector of philosophy that the leading light is also a fascist? Enter Satre who "rejects" Heigger but "keeps" with Hegel. Being and Nothingness, as far as I understand, was a response in part to Heidegger's Being and Time. My philosophy may be rusty, but to answer the question you asked, I think history is the reason why others held him in regard.

dgfgfdagasdfgfa 10y ago

> Ive always struggled to understand Sartre's popularity even among other philosophers I respect. I agree completely. It is completely rankling when considering how he is compared to Simone de Beauvoir. Her "Second Sex" is considered a feminist work—and for good reason—but it surpasses any of what Sarte wrote as a philosophical work. While he did build on the backs of others, his ideas remain small compared to his contemporaries.

bykovich 10y ago

I recall reading a criticism of Sartre essentially to the effect of "he elevated anxieties of the early 20th century to eternal truths." It's an insightful observation that does double labor, serving both as grounds for serious concern about Sartre's work and as an explanation for much of its popularity.

woodandsteel 10y ago

>I always thought the real intellectual differences related to Marxism were between Merleau-Ponty and Sartre, the former having introduced Sartre to Marxism and later publicly breaking with him for his "ultra-bolshevism." Merleau-Ponty was definitely more connected to actual lived reality than Sartre was. When Marxist theory produced a horror, not paradise, he actually sort of admitted it was happening.

polarisrising 10y ago

WW2: Heidegger is the premier, German philosopher. And he's a Nazi. So the question is: what does it mean for the projector of philosophy that the leading light is also a fascist? Enter Satre who "rejects" Heigger but "keeps" with Hegel. Being and Nothingness, as far as I understand, was a response in part to Heidegger's Being and Time. My philosophy may be rusty, but to answer the question you asked, I think history is the reason why others held him in regard.