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Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the 20th century. His name is nearly synonymous with existentialism, a branch of philosophy whose tenets include the idea that…

Sartre, Jean-Paul

(Encyclopedia) Sartre, Jean-PaulSartre, Jean-PaulzhäN-pôl särˈtrə [key], 1905–80, French philosopher, playwright, and novelist. Influenced by German philosophy, particularly that of Heidegger, Sartre…

Beauvoir, Simone de

(Encyclopedia) Beauvoir, Simone deBeauvoir, Simone desēmônˈ də bōvwärˈ [key], 1908–86, French author. A leading exponent of existentialism, she is closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, with whom…

essence

(Encyclopedia) essence, in philosophy, the nature of a thing. Aristotle maintained that there is a distinction between the form of a thing—its intelligible, verbally formulable character—and the…

Sarraute, Nathalie

(Encyclopedia) Sarraute, NathalieSarraute, Nathalienätälēˈ särōtˈ [key], 1900–1999, French novelist, b. Ivanovo, Russia, as Natasha Tcherniak; studied at the Sorbonne and Oxford. A lawyer, she joined…

Lanzmann, Claude

(Encyclopedia) Lanzmann, Claude, 1925–2018, French filmmaker and journalist, b. Paris. While his Jewish family was in hiding in rural France during World War II, Lanzmann joined the Resistance and…

Debray, Jules Régis

(Encyclopedia) Debray, Jules RégisDebray, Jules Régiszhül rāzhēsˈ dəbrāˈ [key], 1940–, French journalist and government official. He went to Cuba, taught philosophy at the Univ. of Havana, and, after…

Jean-Paul Riopelle 2002 Deaths

Jean-Paul RiopelleAge: 78 Canadian abstract expressionist painter who produced most of his work in postwar France. His works appear in New York City's Museum of Modern Art and London's Tate…

existentialism

(Encyclopedia) existentialismexistentialismĕgzĭstĕnˈshəlĭzəm, ĕksĭ– [key], any of several philosophic systems, all centered on the individual and his relationship to the universe or to God. Important…

rationalism

(Encyclopedia) rationalism [Lat.,=belonging to reason], in philosophy, a theory that holds that reason alone, unaided by experience, can arrive at basic truth regarding the world. Associated with…