From the testimony of the Carnets de la drôle de guerre[War Diaries: Notebooks from a Phony War] and the Cahiers pour une morale[Notebooks for an Ethics], this article shows how Sartre uses Stoicism for his philosophical concerns: commitment and responsibility. Sartre’s frequent references to the Stoics, as well as the “stoic” attitude he claims to adopt at the time of mobilization in World War II, attest to the influence of Stoicism. Based on key passages in these two unfinished writings that chronologically frame L’être et le néant[Being and Nothingness], this article shows that Sartre borrows his own moral categories from Stoicism. As he voices it in the Carnets, Sartre attempts to reach a synthesis of Stoicism and authenticity, a key idea in his philosophy.
