David Bryant argues for an optimistic view of life (Face to faith, July 14). He takes as his target the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, whom he accuses of having “demolished just about every ethical and moral philosophy on the agenda … One by one they fall, like coconuts at a funfair.” This is a complete misrepresentation of Sartre’s work.For nearly 20 years I taught an undergraduate course on Sartre. It was the most rewarding I ever taught. Starting with Sartre’s writings we discussed racism; feminism and gay oppression; free will and its limits; ends and means; violence; atheism and morality; whether history has any direction; Russian communism and the interpretation of Marxism.
There is one common thread to all these topics. It is, precisely, morality. Sartre was one of the great moral philosophers. If we take the Oxford English Dictionary of nihilism – “total rejection of … moral principles … a general sense of despair” – Sartre was no nihilist.
Although Bryant does not say so explicitly, the logic behind his article seems to be the old claim that atheists cannot act morally. Sartre’s whole work is a refutation of this. For those of us who see no evidence of a creator, Sartre takes us through the problem of how we should act in this world. If Sartre believes that “there is no purpose to existence”, it is in the sense that life has no meaning derived from outside humanity, but only the meaning that we ourselves give it. more…
