| Jean-Paul Sartre, in his Critique of Dialectical Reason: Volume I--Theory of Practical Ensembles, sets out to determine the significance of history for human action. Sartre commences his inquiry by investigating an abstract individual satisfying her original need in nature and proceeds to analyse the concrete social formation of which the individual finds herself a part. The tools which Sartre employs for his analysis include both existentialism and the historical materialism of Marx and Engels.;Sartre's modified Marxism, as exemplified in the Critique, seems to correct the notion of freedom which he attributed to individuals in his earlier work, Being and Nothingness. According to the later Sartre, historical circumstances do have a direct bearing on what the individual will be, or more specifically, what choices the individual will make. Consequently, the individuals's task, according to the Sartre of the Critique, is to look back upon history and determine both when it has been an impediment to freedom and when it has been conducive to freedom.;As we shall see, one of the keys to understanding Sartre's modified Marxism is his use of the expression, 'practico-inert'.;As we shall see, Sartre's analysis of the resurrection of freedom in the Critique hinges on the experience of the fear of death. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
