Freedom as a Value:
A Critique of the Ethical Theory of
Jean-Paul Sartre
David
Detmer
This dramatic
re-evaluation of Sartre’s ethical theory will establish its
author as a leading American exponent of phenomenology and win
many new followers for Sartre in the English-speaking world.
“The
concept of freedom is central to the whole of Sartre’s
philosophy. Nevertheless, Sartre’s words leave us with many
questions, not only about its meaning, but also about its
implications for ethics and politics. Detmer’s achievement is to
have written a book which beautifully clarifies the problem in a
sympathetic yet critical way, often spelling out the arguments
against Sartre and defending the sense and validity of his
conception, better than Sartre himself.”
—David
Levin, Northwestern University
“Detmer’s
careful reconstruction of Jean-Paul Sartre’s central ontological
concern is sympathetic, clear, and hard-headed. It is a book
that clarifies several of Sartre’s most celebrated and
misinterpreted theses, especially the notorious claim of
‘absolute freedom’. It is a real contribution to the Sartre
literature.”
—Robert C.
Solomon, University of Texas at Austin
“Detmer
rescues Sartre’s much-maligned conception of freedom from
analytic school critics by presenting a series of carefully
crafted arguments supported by textual references . . . a
methodical, responsible analysis of one of the most
misunderstood concepts in all of Sartre’s thought.”
—Lisa M.
Heldke, Carleton College
“a
significant contribution to the study of Sartre’s ethics . . . a
thorough exposition of the various notions of freedom in Sartre
and of the subjectivistic and objectivistic dimensions of his
moral theory.”
—Thomas
Anderson, Marquette University
“a
precise, informed, and forcefully-argued study of Sartre’s
ethical theory.”
—Thomas R.
Flynn, Emory University
“Freedom as a
Value is a much needed reappraisal of Sartre’s ethical
theory. Written with exemplary clarity, it analyzes Sartre’s
paradoxical claim that because human individuals are free
ontologically, a realistic ethics requires that all should be
liberated so as to realize their freedom practically. Detmer
demonstrates that there is a necessary, logical connection
between Sartre’s existential psychology and his socio-political
writing and offers a possible reconciliation between apparently
conflicting tendencies in his work. This is an extraordinarily
fine book and an important one.”
—Hazel E.
Barnes, University of Colorado, Boulder
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