Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

(Amelia) #1
207

SCHELER, MAX

1905–1906), Scepticism and Animal
Faith (1923), Realms of Being (4 vols.
1927–1940), The Idea of Christ in the
Gospels (1946), and Dominations and
Powers (1949).


SARTRE, JEAN-PAUL (1905–1980).
French existentialist, Sartre defined exis-
tentialism as the view that existence pre-
cedes essence. In Platonism, forms or
truths about the essence of things are
abstract and fixed, whereas a Sartrian
existentialist treats existence itself as a
brute fact. If there are any essences or
definitions these are a consequence of
what exists in concrete terms. Sartre
defended atheism and the radical free-
dom of human beings. He and his partner,
Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), had
grave reservation about whether roman-
tic love was compatible with human
freedom. He coined the term “bad faith”
in his discussion about self-deception.
Sartre wrote many plays and novels in
addition to his formal philosophical
prose. A dramatic thinker (two of his
more famous lines: “Hell is other people”
and “Man is a useless passion”), Sartre was
briefly drawn to Soviet Marxism. His
writings include The Transcendence of
the Ego (1936), Nausea (1938), Sketch of
a Theory of the Emotions (1939), The
Psychology of the Imagination (1940),
Being and Nothingness (1943), The Roads
to Freedom (4 vols. projected, only 3 pub-
lished, 1945–1949), Existentialism is a
Humanism (1946), The Flies (1946), No


Exit (1946), What is Literature? (1949),
Saint Genet (1953), Critique of Dialectical
Reason (1960), and Situations I–X (1947–
1975). English translations of Situations
under separate titles include Literary
and Philosophical Essays (1955), Between
Existentialism and Marxism (1975), and
Life / Situations (1977).

SATAN. The Hebrew word satan (ren-
dered in the Greek New Testament as
satanas) means “adversary,” or “one who
plots against” another. The word appears
only rarely in the earliest Hebrew litera-
ture, but appears more frequently in the
later wisdom literature, notably Job, where
Satan is Job’s invisible tormentor. In the
Septuagint, it is usually translated into
Greek as diabolé, from which our word
“devil” is derived. In the New Testament,
this sense of Satan as accuser is contrasted
with the idea that the Holy Spirit is parak-
letos or defender of the faithful. In later
philosophy and theology “Satan” is syn-
onymous with “Lucifer” and “the Devil.”

SCHELER, MAX (1874–1928). German
philosopher who defended an objective
order of values. Scheler articulated the
Augustinian idea that there is a proper
order of love (ordo amoris). Scheler devel-
oped a compelling reply to Nietzsche’s
charge that Christianity is rooted in
resentment. He distinguished between
cases of when someone seeks the good
out of resentment rather than out of
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