Hazel Estella Barnes (December 16, 1915 – March 18, 2008) was an American philosopher, author, and translator. Best known for her popularization of

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

in America, Barnes translated the works of

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

as well as writing original works on the subject. After earning her Ph.D. in Classics from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 1941, she spent much of her career at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. In 1979, Barnes became the first woman to be named Distinguished Professor at CU-Boulder. In recognition of her long tenure and service to the University, in 1991 CU established the Hazel Barnes Prize for faculty who best embody "the enriching interrelationship between teaching and research." In 1962, Barnes was the host of a television series, "Self Encounter: A Study in Existentialism", which ran for 10 episodes and appeared on National Public Television. Her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''The Story I Tell Myself : A Venture in Existentialist Autobiography'', was published in 1997.

Translation of Sartre's ''Being and Nothingness''

Barnes recounts in her autobiography taking on the translation of ''

Being and Nothingness ''Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology'' (french: L'Être et le néant : Essai d'ontologie phénoménologique), sometimes published with the subtitle ''A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology'', is a 1943 book by the philosoph ...

'' unexpectedly. Writing to the main American publisher of existentialist writers with a book proposal on the general topic, Barnes received a reply that included an invitation to engage in the translation. She took the publishers up on the offer, thinking it might be a good way to familiarize herself with Sartre's thought. "I was quite casual about it all", she writes, " ever asking myselfwhether with only three years of badly taught high school French and one yearlong course in college, and a bare minimum of background in philosophy, I was qualified to do the task."

Partial bibliography

Original works

* ''The Literature of Possibility: a Study in Humanistic Existentialism'' (1959) * ''Hippolytus In Drama And Myth'' (1960) * ''An Existentialist Ethics'' (1967) * ''The University as the New Church'' (1970) * ''Sartre'' (1973) * ''The Meddling Gods: Four Essays on Classical Themes'' (1974) * ''Sartre and Flaubert'' (1981) * ''The Story I Tell Myself : A Venture in Existentialist Autobiography'' (1997)

Translations

* ''

'' (1956) * ''Existential Psychoanalysis'' (1962) * '' The Problem of Method'' (1963)

References

External links

Hazel Barnes article
at the Window. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Hazel 1915 births 2008 deaths Existentialists American lesbian writers French–English translators 20th-century American translators 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American women writers