SARTRE’S CONCEPTION OF ART GROUNDED ON HUMANIST EXISTENTIALISM AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL ONTOLOGY

Year 2012, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 249 - 258, 01.06.2012

Metin Bal Sema Sökmen

Abstract

This presentation would be considered as an attempt to introduce a new bridge
between philosophy and art. The main problem of this presentation is “how can a
conception of art grounded on humanist existentialism and phenomenological
ontology be possible?” For the answer, this presentation concentrates on Jean-Paul
Sartre’s philosophy. Existentialism and phenomenology are the two
influential concepts of contemporary philosophy. Sartre brings these two concepts
together and develops a new type of existentialism. Answering the question “how
would the existence of human being be without belief in the existence of God?”
Sartre develops his humanist atheistic existentialism. Sartre’s existentialism
indicates a new understanding of the human being that comes after the destruction
of onto-theo-logical constitution of the conception of the human being essential to
western metaphysics. Thus Sartre introduces the concept of “phenomenological
ontology”. Throughout this presentation, the fundementals of Sartre’s conception
of art are tried to be explored. By doing so demarcations between Sartre’s
philosophy and his conception of art are tried to be shown. To sum up, firstly the
root of existentialism in the history of philosophy is summed up. Then Sartre’s
humanist atheistic existentialism is explained. And thirdly Sartre’s great
contribution to the contemporary philosophy, namely “phenomenological
ontology” is introduced. In the end a new idea of art formed by phenomenological
ontology is tried to be explained.

Keywords

Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialism, phenomenological ontology, philosophy of art, imaginary, work of art, plays, novels

References

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