Existentialism framed oppression through the most-suffering perspective and reached Martin Luther King Jr.

Evidence

For those oppressed on grounds of race or class, or for those fighting against colonialism, existentialism offered a change of perspective — literally, as Sartre proposed that all situations be judged according to how they appeared in the eyes of those most oppressed, or those whose suffering was greatest. Martin Luther King Jr. was among the civil rights pioneers who took an interest. While working on his philosophy of non-violent resistance, he read Sartre, Heidegger and the German-American existentialist theologian Paul Tillich. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 70

Categorization

• XREF: The perspectival ‘eyes of the most oppressed’ principle resonates with standpoint theory and with Frantz Fanon’s use of existentialism, already known to the reader. — connects to: Martin Luther King Jr. read the existentialists. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 1156; Existentialism directly fueled the rights movements of mid-century — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 889

Broader Connections

• Martin Luther King Jr. read the existentialists. #expands (0.90) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 1156
• Existentialism directly fueled the rights movements of mid-century #expands (0.80) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 889