Sartre’s subjectivist ethics proved incompatible with orthodox Marxism

Evidence

Sartre’s ‘eyes of the least favoured’ idea is as radical as Levinas’ Other-directed ethics, and more radical than Communism. Communists believe that only the party can decide what is right. To turn morality over to a mass of human eyes and personal perspectives is to invite chaos and lose the possibility of a real revolution. Sartre ignored the party line and revealed himself to be just as much of an old maverick as ever. He could not be a proper Marxist even when he was trying. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 861

Categorization

• XREF: Contrast with genuine collectivist or procedural ethics; also relevant to the tension between individual conscience and party discipline that recurs through 20th century political philosophy. — connects to: Both Church and Marxists condemned existentialist freedom for undermining their authority — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 42