Famous Thinkers
Scott Rheingold
PHL/458
October 8th, 2012
Jessica Blair

Famous Thinkers

For my paper the two great thinkers that I chose to write about are Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jean-Paul Sartre. These two distinctly different men were born in different countries 24 years apart. Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris, France in 1905 and Doctor King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929. Jean-Paul Sartre was a philosopher and invented the anti-hero of modern literature. This is defined as “the suffering consciousness who does not act but who hides within his ego, disgusted by the obscene reality of external things (La Nausee, 1938). He also advocated the moral posture of existentialism. This philosophy is based on the self and takes precedence over moral code and custom in which others have a voice. His philosophy paints a portrait of the predicament we are placed in by self-consciousness in the world of objects. True to his existentialist views, Jean-Paul Sartre won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1964, but declined the honor. Doctor King, on the other hand was a social activist, specializing in civil rights. He grew up in the segregated South and received his Doctorate at Boston University in 1955. His exposure to the liberated North provided the motivation to fight segregation back home. Doctor King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his civil rights work. The political environment for Jean-Paul Sartre was war, but primarily influenced by World War II and communism. His philosophy on communism was to judge it by its intention and not by its actions. While Doctor King’s social and political environment was the opposing views of the North and South relating to segregation. The position up North promoted racial equality while down South; African Americans were treated worse than women. They were both shaped by the times and places where they lived. In the case of Doctor King, he studied the philosophy of Gandhi and espoused his view of peaceful noncompliance. A visit to India in 1959 further convinced him that non violent resistance is the best weapon available to social action. He sought to create racial equality and end segregation practices that were common in the South. Sartre campaigned for the destruction of the bourgeois of France through his writings. Doctor King’s vision of solving racial inequity and segregation was centered on a variety of public speeches and non-violent demonstrations. His first significant non –violent demonstration was the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955. This was precipitated by Miss. Rosa Parks refusal to give up her bus seat for a White person. He then went on to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This gave him the platform to speak out against racial inequality and segregation. Doctor King’s defining moment was his “I have a dream” speech given at the Washington Monument in 1963. Jean-Paul Sartre method of expression against the French bourgeois was in novels and theatrical plays. His main format was the literary journal “Les Temps modernes” and his autobiography “Les Mots,” published in 1964. Jean-Paul negative view of the bourgeois was the inspiration for a young Cambodian student who had come to study in France. This student was Pol Pot and took what he learned from Sartre and became a leader in Cambodia during the war in Vietnam in the late 1960’s. Pol Pot embraced Sartre’s negative view of the bourgeois and all it represented and in his native Cambodia became a tyrannical leader, by Western standards. This parallels how communism was viewed in the late 1960’s, in the sense that we are all equals. Of course, the reality is some are more equal then others in any geopolitical system. Their respective contributions to society are as different as the times they lived in. Doctor King’s contribution to society was in being a pioneer of desegregation and racial equality for all people, not just African Americans. His approach of using speech and nonviolent confrontation has inspired people from all over the world to search for solutions nonviolently. Doctor King along with his followers made significant strides in Alabama to initiate desegregation. Doctor King was a positive influence and an inspiration to many young African Americans however some of his followers felt that violence was needed to generate faster and greater change. Both Sartre and Doctor King were visionary thinkers and looked to change the current thoughts that were prevalent at the time. As critical thinkers they had to envision the world they wanted to create through change. In both cases, their thoughts, ideals, and ideas were not universally accepted. The presentation of their philosophies differed as Doctor King was a charismatic and well educated speaker who preferred public forums to express his vision. Jean-Paul Sartre used his journal, writings and theatrical plays to get his message heard. By all accounts Sartre was very critical of others who did not agree with his negative views of the bourgeois. The people in power and with money objected to his philosophy and writing for it was this same bourgeois from where he came. As I look back on Doctor King’s legacy, critical analysis of his ideas is difficult. He was very successful early in his drive to end segregation and racial inequality. King was a flawed hero with questions about possible plagiarism and adultery. The younger people of his generation felt his nonviolent approach took too long to enact change. They became disenchanted and this created the black militant movement. Malcolm X went so far as to call King’s tactics “criminal.” “Concerning non violence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.” This effectively summarized the militant view. Doctor King could have varied his philosophy of nonviolence and brought in some of the more radical element to fast track his agenda. The main flaw in Sartre’s philosophy can be narrowed down the saying of “do not bite the hand that feeds you.” Sartre came from the middle class and it was this same middle class that he wanted to abolish. His radical thoughts were well thought out and presented but were in the minority. His desire to abolish the bourgeois through revolution was destined to fail. He could have sought out a less radical agenda and worked on trying to achieve his goals through attrition instead of wanting to abolish the bourgeois. These two very different men did have one important ideal in common, and that was to bring about social change for those disenfranchised and less fortunate souls. Each succeeded in their own way, but Doctor King was far more visible on the international level. Doctor King had a national holiday named in his honor and Jean-Paul Sartre’s funeral procession was attended by 25,000 people.
References
Scruton, R. (June 25, 2005). The Power of Negative Thinking. The Spectator, 298(9229), 28,30, 32.
David L., L. (2012). King, Martin Luther, Jr. Britannica Biographies, 1.
Wilfrid, D. (2012). Sartre, Jean-Paul. Britannica Biographies, 1.