“To tear humanism from the clutches of the bourgeoisie” The pivotal role of Réflexions sur la question juive

While some of Sartre’s pre-war texts examined the antisemitic mentality, the Réflexions sur la question juive is centered on the Jewish perspective. This article shows how this 1946 essay constitutes a decisive stage in existentialism’s humanist development. The Réflexions, by integrating the legacy of Marxism and, more broadly, the socialist tradition, make the Sartrean doctrine a philosophy of and for the oppressed, aiming to help them regain control over their destiny.