Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology. His work has influenced sociology, critical theory , post-colonial theory , and literary studies. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution.
Sartre held an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois , in both lifestyles and thought. Anne-Marie moved back to her parents' house in Meudon , where she raised Sartre with help from her father Charles Schweitzer, a teacher of German who taught Sartre mathematics and introduced him to classical literature at a very early age.
Many newspapers, including Le Petit Parisien , announced the event on 25 May. Thousands, including journalists and curious spectators, showed up, unaware that what they were witnessing was a stunt involving a Lindbergh look-alike. The two became inseparable and lifelong companions, initiating a romantic relationship, [ 22 ] though they were not monogamous. He took it a second time and virtually tied for first place with Beauvoir, although Sartre was eventually awarded first place, with Beauvoir second.
In , Sartre was drafted into the French Army , where he served as a meteorologist. It was during this period of confinement that Sartre read Martin Heidegger 's Sein und Zeit , later to become a major influence on his own essay on phenomenological ontology. Because of poor health he claimed that his poor eyesight and exotropia affected his balance , Sartre was released in April According to other sources, he escaped after a medical visit to the ophthalmologist.
However, both Gide and Malraux were undecided, and this may have been the cause of Sartre's disappointment and discouragement. He then wrote Being and Nothingness , The Flies , and No Exit , none of which were censored by the Germans, and also contributed to both legal and illegal literary magazines. In his essay "Paris under the Occupation ", Sartre wrote that the "correct" behaviour of the Germans had entrapped too many Parisians into complicity with the occupation, accepting what was unnatural as natural:.
