Being and Nothingness an Essay on Phenomonological Ontology by Trans. Sartre, Jean Paul; Hazel E. Barnes (PDF)

Description

Originally published in 1943. Sartre’s main purpose in Being and Nothingness is to assert the individual’s existence as prior to the individual’s essence (“existence precedes essence”). His overriding concern in writing the book was to demonstrate that free will exists.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐very good book have loved it so far, very long but i think ill enjoy it all. really makes you take notes.

⭐Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Being and Nothingness” is the fundamental text of Existentialism. His examination of ontology constantly reviews previous existential philosophy by building on, and refuting, the work of prior philosophers.Sartre begins with a framework on nothingness and negations. Nothingness does not have being but is supported by being. It comes into existence through the for-itself and allows consciousness to exist. Negations are acts which contain negativity as part of their structure (ex: absence.) He then progresses to an examination of Bad Faith. This is essentially a false consciousness which a person pursues to flee from their own freedom.The most theoretically important part of the book regarding ontology is Sartre’s explanation of Being-for-itself and Being-for-others. Being-for-itself is an examination of the works of Descartes, Husserl, etc, into the nature of the individuals being and consciousness. “The Other” is a concept from Hegel that Sartre alters to explain others around us. For Sartre “The Other” is in a constant battle to deprive the other person of their freedom without extinguishing their being.The second half of his treatise deals with issues mostly empirical in nature. Sartre has an impeccable knowledge of philosophy and the physical science up to 1943 (philosophy, biology, psychology, pyschics, etc..) He uses the theory of ontology to reexamine empirical issues where he finds scientific fields lacking. In the end Sartre devises a `Existential Psychoanalysis’ (Existentialism) to examine psychological phenomenon through an ontological lens.For Sartre humans are thrown into the world, in a situation, but have absolute freedom over choice. They are responsible for their choice. Whether they chose to actively pursue something or passively submit THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE. This responsibility is not meant as an ethical judgment but rather a statement of fact.Sartre almost completely eschews ethical judgments in “Being and Nothingness.” His objective throughout the work is to explain the ontological foundation of being. He reserves 2 pages at the end of the book discussing ethics. His advice is to strive for a synthesis of the being-in-itself with the being-for-itself (a true single consciousness between body and mind.) A person can then strive to attain their values (which are subjective in nature.)Note: Sartre assumes his readers have read essentially every existential philosopher since Plato. He gives brief descriptions of each philosopher’s theory but I strongly recommend you read their work before “Being and Nothingness.” Sartre also uses incredibly obtuse language (which is made worse through translation.) While not as bad as other philosophers his work forces the person to actively read everything he says. Sartre commands an excellent understanding of science but actively rejects some of its most basic premises because science fails to ask the right questions. While some of the science he talks about has long been disproven for the most part his understanding of science remains valid.Note #2: I read the Gramercy edition.I strongly recommend “Being and Nothingness” to anyone interested in ontology with a strong background in philosophy and the psychical sciences.

⭐It’s a little difficult to know how to review a epochal work like Being and Nothingness. Instead of summarizing the material, a herculean task given its eight hundred pages, I’ll simply provide what to expect and briefly share my opinions on his methods to help decide if this is worth your reading.As I understand him, Sartre is above all a phenomenologist. Engaging with the tradition of Hegel, Husserl and Heidegger most of the text is devoted to descriptions of how Sartre experienced his humanity. Assertions abound and new and complex terminology is developed, all around a new account of human consciousness and the world.Sartre reminds you how little philosophy has changed since Aristotle. In the Metaphysics Aristotle summarized his predecessors and laid down a sweeping account of the cosmos all based on his reflections on language, custom and personal experience.In the hands of a great thinker like Sartre a similar technique does result in some brilliant insights. Moreover, he is undoubtedly one of the primary sources of post-modernism. However, there is also a hard to understand lack of attention to germane material outside of philosophy.For example, there is a one hundred page description of time without any consideration of the unity of space and time in special relativity. While the human experience of temporality is finely illuminated is it too much to ask that it be informed by other disciplines?These oversights leads you to think that in an age making such strides towards understanding the physiology of consciousness, Sartre’s phenomenological approach seems rather dated and unnecessary. Those partial to this type of philosophizing may, however, disagree.Obviously you are in the presence of a great mind but will and should this way of almost solipsistic reasoning about the world endure? It seems to grow increasingly passé as the scientific outlook on humanity advances. In my opinion, for all its genius, Being and Consciousness is more of a relic than a living philosophical text. I wish I had not devoted the time to read it but, again, others will certainly differ.

⭐Enjoys books of this nature

⭐A great read. Very good publication. High quality paper and binding.

⭐Tough work which I avoided when I was young. So at 72 I thought I would give it a whirl. I loved hi Roads to Freedom when I was 18. So I thought I would go to the source. Wish me luck

⭐It is silly to ask buyers about their opinion on this book. It is one of the most important publications of the last 100 years. If you buy only 10 books of that period, this should be one of them. And if you cannot understand it, keep that to yourself and place the book on some shelf so that it can be seen by friends whom you invite for dinner parties.

⭐This is not a review on the content of the book but on the physical condition of the book itself. It arrived with the front cover and the first 50 or so pages with a big fold/crease in them. I’ve seen tried to restore and straighten it out but the crease still remains. Other than that it’s a good book.

⭐Publishers have no shame, quality of paper and print is appalling especially for a book that could be read and studied over a lifetime. You’d infinitely prefer one of those printed by amazon books to turn up and maybe publishers think they can get away with this quality because of online purchase as you’d certainly not buy seeing the quality at a bookstore.

⭐Came with a scratch on the cover which is a tad bit annoying as this wasn’t disclosed, but aside from that, the rest of the book is in excellent quality. Arrived on time.

Keywords

Free Download Being and Nothingness an Essay on Phenomonological Ontology in PDF format
Being and Nothingness an Essay on Phenomonological Ontology PDF Free Download
Download Being and Nothingness an Essay on Phenomonological Ontology PDF Free
Being and Nothingness an Essay on Phenomonological Ontology PDF Free Download
Download Being and Nothingness an Essay on Phenomonological Ontology PDF
Free Download Ebook Being and Nothingness an Essay on Phenomonological Ontology