The Work of Sartre: Search for Freedom and the Challenge of History

István Mészáros’s expanded critical study of Jean-Paul Sartre not only makes a powerful case for him as one of the great philosophers of the twentieth century, but also underlines how the problems and commitments that animated Sartre make him a vital figure of continuing importance. In demonstrating Sartre’s strengths and integrity as an activist thinker, Mészáros also reveals how his very failures are the source of illumination. Many of Sartre’s most ambitious works remained unfinished, and the reasons lie in the contradictions at the heart of the philosopher’s thinking, and also, as Mészáros argues, at the heart of late capitalist society.

—Dominic Alexander, Counterfire

I recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of Sartre’s philosophy and political activities. Well-researched and well-written, it provides a balanced and comprehensive analysis of Sartre’s life and work.

—George Snedeker, Science & Society

Praise for the first edition:

One of the most important studies on Sartre yet to appear … Mészáros encounters Sartre: he describes some of the deepest tensions driving Sartre’s entire career and shows them both as established in his early works and from the point of view of his later development. … dazzling insights.

—New Statesman

In the future no one will be able to write on Sartre without first studying Mészáros.

—Times Higher Education Supplement