Sartre's theory of alienation
Description
It becomes quite evident that Sartre's philosophy has received much attention among scholars and commentators alike. Most of them however, have said little about his concept of alienation. The aim of this work is to remedy this lack--to show that Sartre's theory of alienation occupies an important place in his philosophy. The attempt is made especially to distinguish two kinds of alienation in Sartre: that of the early works, which is basically put in an ontological context, and that of the later works which is put in a rather different context, namely, the socioeconomic and historical context. It is our contention in this work, however, that there is no radical change between the two theories. That is, Sartre remains true to his earlier theory and that the change is basically in the form of expression The study shows also that Sartre does not provide us with an accurate solution to the problem of alienation. Linked to this failure, we believe, is his failure to establish his long-promised ethical theory. This difficulty, we argue, is rooted in his conception of man as a lack, a being which is its own nothingness and nihilation