From the instant to the ek-stase: the change in Sartre’s theory of time

Abstract

This article intends to show the change that took place in Jean-Paul Sartre's theory of time in the late 1930s. This change consists of a reconsideration of Sartre’s theory of temporality, until then an instantaneist one, to an ekstatic conception, influenced by the reading of Heidegger's Being and Time. We believe that highlighting this change is extremely important, not only because it helps us to identify a periodization that is not always indicated in the studies of Sartre’s philosophy , but mainly because this transformation played a fundamental role in the elaboration of the ontology of Being and Nothingness, especially with regard to the structure of facticity and in the analyses of the past. Moreover, such an investigation allows us to see in a concrete way the decisive influence of Heidegger’s philosophy on Sartre's thought.