Tarmo Tiroli doktoritöö “Subjektiivsus Jean-Paul Sartre’i eksistentsialismis” uurib muutusi ja arenguid Sartre’i eksistentsialistlikus subjektikäsitluses ning annab subjektikäsitlusest ka ülevaate. Töö keskendub põhiliselt Sartre’i marksismieelsele (kuigi osalt siiski Marxist mõjutatud) filosoofiale ning fenomenoloogiale, mille põhjal Sartre oma eksistentsialistliku subjektiteooria välja arendas. Tähelepanu all on subjekt ja subjektiivsusega seotud teemad: ontoloogiline ja praktiline vabadus, eneseteadvus, autentsus, väärtused, subjekti struktuur, kujutlusvõime jne. Dissertatsioon vastandub erinevatele subjekti struktuuri puudutavatele väärtõlgendustele ning reduktisonistlike vaadetele, mille kohaselt Sartre’i subjektikäsitlus jäi alati sisuliselt alati samaks ning näitab, et selles toimus hulgaliselt nii väiksemaid transformatsioone, kuid ka mõningaid selliseid, mida oleks sobilik iseloomustada sõnadega “järsk” ja “radikaalne”. Tähtsaimad muutused hõlmavad Teise maailmasõja järgset perioodi ning puudutavad vabadusekäsitlust ning eneseteadvuse rolli modifitseerumist. Nihked subjektikäsitluses kätkevad endas ka Sartre’i filosoofia alusmõistete tähenduste teisenemisi, mistõttu pole põhjust eeldada, et Sartre peab oma filosoofikarjääri jooksul subjektiivsusega seonduvate mõistete all (vabadus, autentsus jne) alati silmas samu asju.
Tarmo Tirol’s doctoral thesis Subjectivity in Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism follows the development of Sartre's theory of subjectivity, starting from the primarily phenomenologically oriented earlier philosophy, from which existentialism arises and which already contains some elements of existentialism, and ending up right before Sartre's Critique, which is usually considered rather a Marxist work. The main concern of this work is to examine noticeable (but also smaller yet significant) changes that took place in the development of Sartre's earlier existentialism with respect to subjectivity. The question is where and when those modifications took place, what was the role and importance of those changes and how do they relate to the context of Sartre's philosophy overall. So, to a lesser extent this thesis presents Sartre's philosophy as a whole, including his self-interpretations, his theory of morality and even his literary criticism. Nonetheless, Tirol’s central interest lies in epistemological problems such as the structure of consciousness, self-consciousness, the development of consciousness as well as Sartre's theory of freedom. Tirol’s treatment of Sartre's philosophy is opposed to those views which claim that Sartre's philosophy did not significantly change. The doctoral thesis shows that one of the biggest shifts in Sartre's philosophy occurred in his post-war writings, and that there are also many remarkable changes in the late 1940s and in the early 1950s – a time when earlier existentialists' ontological and epistemological categories started to lose their weight and importance and in some cases (one might say) became inapplicable altogether.
