ABSTRACT
The concept of freedom has been, in one form or another, a pivotal ingredient in philosophical reflection since the time of the ancient Greeks. Although existentialism is not as dominant a movement among philosophers now, at the beginning of a new century, as it was during the middle of the 20th century, its legacy was significant, if profound. The primary exponents of existentialism remain a source of insight and discovery for contemporary students of philosophy. One of the most important and influential existentialists was Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre wrote in virtually every form—novels, short stories, plays, literary criticism, all in addition to philosophical works on many topics. In 1965, Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he rejected it. Since the concept of freedom pertains primarily to the behavior of human beings, its analysis has been the concern of that branch of philosophy known as ethics.
