The Transcendence of the Ego An Existentialist Theory of Consciousness

The Transcendence of the Ego, first published in France in 1937, may be regarded as a turning point in the philosophical development of Jean-Paul Sartre. Before writing this essay, Sartre had become intimately acquainted with phenomenologists such as Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. In this critically significant essay, Sartre attacked Husserl's notion of a transcendental ego. This disagreement with Husserl was profoundly important for Sartre, and it facilitated his transition from phenomenology to the doctrine of Being and Nothingness.

Jean-Paul Sartre—novelist, essayist, playwright, and philosopher—was France's leading existentialist. Among his most famous works are the novel Nausea, the play No Exit, and the philosophical treatise Being and Nothingness.