The Transcendence of the Ego

‘I should like to show here that the Ego is neither formally or materially in consciousness: it is outside, in the world.’

Jean-Paul Sartre

The Transcendence of the Ego is one of Jean-Paul Sartre’s earliest philosophical publications and essential for understanding the trajectory of his work as a whole. When it first appeared in France in 1937 Sartre was still largely unknown, working as a school teacher in a provincial French town.

Attacking prevailing philosophical theories head on, Sartre offers a brilliant and radical account of the self as a product of consciousness, situated in the world. He introduces many of the themes central to his major work, Being and Nothingness: the nature of consciousness, the problem of self-knowledge, other minds, and anguish.

This translation includes a thorough and illuminating introduction by Sarah Richmond, placing Sartre’s essay in its philosophical and historical context.