Who the Hell is Jean-Paul Sartre?

For students, teachers and smart-thinkers, our carefully structured, jargon-free series provides the base knowledge needed to get your head around complicated theories of brilliant intellectuals. Written in an accessible and engaging way, each book takes you through the life and influences of one great thinker, before taking a deep dive into three of their key theories in plain English. Smart thinking made easy!

Jean-Paul Sartre was a novelist, playwright and journalist - but most of all, he was a philosopher. One of the most important figures in 20th-century philosophy, he is best known for his writing on existentialism. Beginning with his life story to find out who he was as a person, this book then goes on to look at how events and people impacted upon his thinking, before examining his three most important ideas in detail. Chapters three and four explore two key concepts within his existentialism: phenomenological ontology and radical freedom, while the final chapter looks at his understanding of responsibility. While these ideas can seem complex, this book aims to guide you through Sartre's fascinating concepts in an accessible and jargon-free way to allow you to discover an enriching and exciting philosophy.