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A theory of history:

Search for a Method

I

nafootnotetoWhat is Literature?Sartre muses: “Some day I am
going to try to describe that strange reality History, which is neither
objective, nor ever quite subjective, in which the dialectic is contested,
penetrated, and corroded by a kind of antidialectic, but which is still a
dialectic. But that is the philosopher’s affair” (WL 333 – 334 ). In fact, we
have seen that from his youth, Sartre wished to be a philosopher and a
literary person, both SpinozaandStendhal. But if the two sides of his
self-definition often existed in creative tension, the philosophical gene
emerged as dominant in his later years.^1 Sartre’s philosophical interest
in the practice of history, as we observed, seems to have been sparked by
the success of Raymond Aron’s defense and publication of two volumes on
the philosophy of history for his state doctorate.^2 Aron’sDoctorat d’e ́tat
qualified him for a teaching post at the university level – something that
Sartre never achieved, though he thought it within his reach if Jean
Paulhan had only delayed publishing the manuscript ofThe Imaginary
with Gallimard, a move that seemed to disqualifiy it as a thesis.^3

(^1) Recall Sartre’s “farewell” to imaginative literature with the writing ofWords.
(^2) Raymond Aron,Introduction a`la philosophie de l’histoire. Essai sur les limites de l’objectivite ́
historique(Paris: Gallimard, 1938 ) andEssai sur une the ́orie de l’histoire dans l’Allemagne
3 contemporaine. La Philosophie critique de l’histoire(Paris: Vrin,^1938 ).
Sartre had informed Beauvoir of this shortly before: “Paulhan writes that Wahl and Brunsch-
vicg decided to takeL’Imaginaireas a doctoralthesis. They’ll publish the thesis, deleting the
first part (which already appeared inLa revue du Me ́ta). I’m agreeing, provided there is no
secondary thesis to write [which was the usual requirement for the Doctorat d’E ́tat]. Does
that seem right?” The very next day he laments: “Paulhan is an odd bird. According to your
letter of the 8 th,L’Imaginaireis already out. Splendid, but his letter was mailedin Parison
the 7 th and consequently he had to know that the book was on sale at the very moment he was
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