Jean-Paul Sartre

About Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) was a towering figure of 20th-century thought, renowned as a key proponent of existentialism. As a philosopher, novelist, and playwright, his work fundamentally explored themes of radical freedom, responsibility, and subjective experience, most famously articulated in works like Being and Nothingness and No Exit. This profound cultural and intellectual contribution places him at #239 on MIT’s Historical Popularity Index, marking him as one of history’s most influential thinkers across numerous fields.

Despite this high historical ranking, Sartre’s modern digital footprint suggests a relative cultural lag. In 2025, his English Wikipedia page garnered 907K annualized views, resulting in an Attention Gap of approximately 1x-meaning his internet attention is largely commensurate with his importance, though not dominant. This is strikingly similar to the attention given to George Orwell (#398 importance, 2.0M views) and Oscar Wilde (#541 importance, 2.0M views), placing him in the same tier of contemporary online visibility as these fellow literary figures, rather than figures of potentially greater historical weight like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (#92 importance, 74K views).

His attention remains relatively stable and slightly growing, showing a +3.5% year-over-year increase in views and a +8% positive momentum comparing Q1 to Q3 of 2025, indicating sustained, if modest, engagement with his philosophical legacy.