Sartre on the individual in the historical dialectic

Conclusion

It is clear from this brief analysis that Sartre the Existentialist is alive and well, even as a self-proclaimed Marxist. In his later work he fuses Marxism with Existentialism, giving to the former a strong dose of individuality which has been prescribed by Western humanists for decades. Thus far I have given only the bare outline of Sartre's view. It needs to be followed up with a further analysis of his stand on groups and classes, which takes up the bulk of theCritique. But the essential direction of his work is already clear. Sartre reminds us that the contradictions of the dialectic first live in the minds and careers of individuals. He finds Marxist literature fraught with the view that man is inert in the historical process, and he hopes that his work helps to correct this failure. It remains to be seen how much impact Sartre's challenge to Marxist dogmatism will have both on his fellow Marxists, who are no doubt uncomfortable with his brand of Marxism, and on the Western liberal who is both attracted to and repulsed by Marx.