ABSTRACT
Jean-Paul Sartre states in multiple interviews that he is an anarchist, and commentators have consistently labeled him as one. An important component of Sartre’s anarchism is his anti-moralism. Sartre’s conception of ontological freedom is the basis for his anarchist conclusion about morality. Sartre’s anarchism does not involve a moral claim about human liberty. The anarchistic implications of Sartre’s anti-teleological notion of freedom should be sharply contrasted with the egoism of Ayn Rand and all capitalist forms of anarchism. Sartre’s anti-statism consists in his critique of liberal democracy and his objection to rights, which involve an objectionably abstract type of social recognition. In a new work, Jean-Paul Sartre’s Anarchist Philosophy, William Remley lucidly details Sartre’s “radical anarchist political philosophy”. Remley identifies four main themes in anarchist thinking: ideal society; social critique; human nature; and praxis. Sartre’s work echoes some themes in Pierre Proudhon’s social anarchism.
