“Legend of the Certain”Textual problems aside, these fragments chiefly elaborate claims made in
the original version. We discover from a rather disjointed account in the
first fragment, that the sceptics are the “sophistical” vagabonds who turn
philosophy toward practical concerns, that an “event” such as the Battle
of Waterloo eludes philosophical analysis (though Sartre will devote
considerable attention to just such “social phenomena” in hisCritique
of Dialectical Reasonyears later), and that Bergson and Meyerson fail
adequately to describe our experience of temporality.
Regarding this last, Sartre remarks that “we do not perceive the
metaphysical present, that is, a temporal point; we perceive a complete
articulation of a certain act” (EPS 34 ) – much as the American philoso-
pher Arthur Danto argued thirty years later that “basic action” such as
raising your arm (which was Sartre’s example as well) is something that
one does in order to accomplish something else but is not itself the effect
of a prior action. As Sartre insightfully remarks: “So there is an indivis-
ible nature to time that is given all at once. And it is evident that what is
most important in this nature is not to last [durer] but to have some
orientation, some signification. And that is precisely the event” (EPS
35 ). As for what social theorists call a “social fact,” Sartre claims that the
philosophers fail to ask “What sort of existence should one ascribe to the
Battle of Waterloo?” (EPS 34 ). Again, he will answer this question in
CDR, though by then the storming of the Bastille will have replaced
Waterloo as his example.
“Legend of the Probable and of the Philosophers”De Coorebyter notes how this fragment and the next one, unlike the
previous one, do follow on and expand the line of the published essay.
Continuing the genetic argument, Sartre ascribes the rise of philoso-
phers to the democratic spirit that fostered scientific associations:
“Diligent monades, they are functionaries of the Republic. Doubtless,
that’s why philosophy counts so few martyrs in its number: just as many,
they say, as the Postal service” (EPS 38 ).
But Science remains in power, especially the scientific machine
(technology) with its promise of Happiness (Bonheur). Er, a herald of
the “solitary man,” has no interest in an ethic of happiness. Such a
Utilitarian model seems more fitting for an industrial society. It becomes
40 An elite education: student, author, soldier, teacher