| Hope Now: The 1980 Interviews Contributor(s): Sartre, Jean-Paul (Author), Van Den Hoven, Adrian (Translator), Lévy, Benny (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226476316 ISBN-13: 9780226476315 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $27.72 Product Type: Paperback Published: June 2007 Annotation: In March of 1980, just a month before Sartre's death, Le Nouvel Observateur published a series of interviews, the last ever given, between the blind and debilitated philosopher and his young assistant, Benny Levy. Some readers were scandalized and denounced the interviews as distorted, inauthentic, even fraudulent. They seemed to portray a Sartre who had abandoned his leftist convictions and rejected his most intimate friends, including Simone de Beauvoir. This man had cast aside his own fundamental beliefs in the primacy of individual consciousness, the inevitability of violence, and Marxism, embracing instead a messianic Judaism. No, Sartre's supporters argued, it was his interlocutor, the ex-radical, the recently converted orthodox Jew, who had twisted the words and thoughts of an ailing Sartre to his own ends. Or had he? Shortly before his death, Sartre confirmed the authenticity of the interviews and their puzzling content. Over the past fifteen years, it has become the task of Sartre scholars to unravel and understand them. Presented in this fresh, meticulous translation, the interviews are framed by two provocative essays by Benny Levy himself, accompanied by a comprehensive introduction from noted Sartre authority Ronald Aronson. Placing the interviews in proper biographical and philosophical perspective, Aronson demonstrates that the thought of both Sartre and Levy reveals multiple intentions that, taken together, confirm and add to Sartre's overall philosophy. This absorbing volume at last contextualizes and elucidates the final thoughts of a brilliant and influential mind. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | History & Surveys - Modern - Biography & Autobiography | Philosophers |
| Dewey: 194 |
| Physical Information: 0.31" H x 6.39" W x 8.55" (0.40 lbs) 142 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Cultural Region - French |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In March of 1980, Le Nouvel Observateur published the final interviews between the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, then blind and debilitated, and his young assistant, Benny Lévy. Readers immediately denounced the interviews as distorted and fraudulent for portraying a Sartre who had abandoned his leftist convictions, rejected his most intimate friends, and cast aside his fundamental beliefs in favor of a messianic Judaism. Sartre's supporters argued that it was his orthodox interlocutor, Lévy, who had twisted the words of the ailing philosopher. Yet, shortly before his death, Sartre confirmed the authenticity of the interviews and their puzzling content. Here presented in translation, the interviews are framed by two provocative essays by Benny Lévy, accompanied by a comprehensive introduction from noted Sartre authority Ronald Aronson, which places the interviews in biographical and philosophical perspective to demonstrate how they confirm and contribute to Sartre's overall philosophy. This absorbing volume at last contextualizes and elucidates the final thoughts of a brilliant and influential mind. |
Contributor Bio(s): Sartre, Jean-Paul: - Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was a French novelist, playwright, and biographer who is widely recognized as one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. His work earned him the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature.Aronson, Ronald: - Ronald Aronson is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Wayne State University. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including, most recently, We Have Only This Life to Live: Essays of Jean-Paul Sartre and Living without God: New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, and the Undecided. |