Zaphod,
Excellent points.
Sartre, Kierkegaard , Camus, and the others created a a value system and life philosophy which has helped create the cesspool we encounter today. “being true to your whole self”, “living fully”, etc etc ad nauseam. Defining living and value in terms of one’s own existence and experiences , this perspective is completely antithetical to Torah on every level.
(I don’t think it would be an oversimplification to summarize “The Myth of Sisyphus” as אכול ושתה כי מחר נמות. )
Yet so much of this philosophy has made its way into the underpinnings of todays worldview that, sadly, these points are perceived as basic “truths” even within our own Machane.
It’s not worth touting the smart things Sartre may have said. Yiddin should avoid the philosophers. They have nothing worthwhile to add to and very much to detract from the perspective in life that we receive wholly from our Heilige Torah
It would be worthwhile to read the beginning of 19 Letters, where Rav Hirsch described the need to understand and appreciate the Torah’s life-perspective from within, not from without.