Existentialism In In The Waiting Room And The Daydreams Of A Drunk Woman

Jean-Paul Sartre is a French philosopher who makes his claims based on a combination of two philosophical traditions – existentialism and phenomenology. Sartre himself is an atheistic existentialist. He summarizes his claims regarding existentialism with three words – anguish, abandonment, and despair (25). In this paper, I will talk about Sartre’s definition of existentialism, its relation to essence, Sartre’s views on the moral choices and how they relate to art.

In the reading “Existentialism is a Humanism”, the author Jean-Paul Sartre presents the idea of Existentialism. He introduces this idea by stating that man’s plan in this world is not pre-determined, as we only determine who we are or who we want to become throughout life. Sartre states that a person is what a person does. He also uses a metaphoric scenario of a man jumping on a scene before defining himself. These two ideas imply that man has no ultimate meaning, and it is up to us to find it through experience and by taking action. Additionally, Sartre also implies that humans have a huge responsibility on becoming who they want to become as it is only up to them to do so, making us entirely responsible for our existence.

Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre, was published in 1945 at the height of Existentialism's cultural resurgence. As Sartre states in his opening line, his purpose is to “offer a defence of existentialism against some charges that have been brought against it.” (Sartre, 1945) At a time where Existentialism was heavily associated with wearing black and smoking (Fahlenbrach, 2012) Sartre felt the need to draw attention to its philosophical and more meaningful aspects, beyond it simply being a passing trend. Sartre outlines, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. That is the first principle of existentialism” (Sartre, 1945) This is rooted in what Sartre believes to be the basis of all Existential

In his essay “Existentialism”, Jean Paul Sartre discusses the main beliefs of existentialism. Perhaps the most important belief of existentialism is that there is no human nature, and there is no God. This means that each individual man has control of his own destiny. The definition of each individual man is the sum of his life and all he has accomplished in his life. He is also responsible for all the choices and actions he makes in his life. These types of choices and actions can be seen in the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel. This book is a story about a boy, Wiesel, who is taken to a concentration camp with his family. It follows him and his father through their trials and movement from Auschwitz

As I sat in the desk of my afternoon class, “Intro to Philosophy 1101,” I longed to be outside with my fellow colleagues enjoying the winter air as it turned to spring. Instead of sitting on the grassy lawn, I sat confined behind the jail-resembling cinder block walls of the classroom. My professor’s lesson contradicts the atmosphere of the classroom as she mumbles about, “Existentialism” and how it is “a philosophy emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice that influenced many diverse writers in the 19th and 20th centuries.” (Funk & Wagnalls 1.) At the time, I did not notice a significance to the lesson, but while reading pieces of literature in English, I understand the purpose of existentialism and how apparent it is in written works. Writings such as “Raj Bohemian,” “The Lottery,” and “Good Country People” all show evidence of an attitude of choice. The term itself suggests one major theme: the stress on the concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice. (Funk & Wagnalls 1.) The use of existentialism shapes the characters’ such as the Narrator in “Raj

Yesterday, I enrolled for class. Now this decision was definite as I couldn’t go back and not enrol. However, the actual action of me actually attending was completely my choice; a conscious decision. Although it was compulsory to attend, nothing given could determine the outcome. John Paul Sartre an eminent existentialist, would argue that just because I made a commitment didn't necessarily mean I needed to follow through with it. Enrolling was part of the facticity of the in-itself. I had only made the decision, I had to follow through with an action. Sartre would contend that by forcing myself to attend if I didn’t want to would be trying to escape from my freedom. Sartre, stated that the basic principle of existentialism was existence precedes essence for human beings. In his essay, Existentialism is Humanism, Sartre attempts to answer the accusations. Essentially, he rejects the notion of any innate human nature; implying that because our essence comes to be after our existence, we are free to choose and live our lives accordingly. This essay will discuss Sartre’s explanation of the expression and the related implications.

Perhaps the most telling symptom of existentialist philosophers is their ever-divergent theories on the fundamental characteristics of human life and their steadfast refusal to assign an explicit meaning or reason to our existence at all. Contrary to criticism which therefore labels the movement cynically nihilistic, existentialism justifies life with reasoning similar to that of Zen Buddhism. Specifically, the notions of hopelessness and absurdity can be gleaned from Buddhism in a manner helpful to the understanding of existentialist viewpoints on the same.

Elizabeth Bishop is a remarkable poet; she contributed to the Postmodern era experiment of the 20th century when poets played with nontraditional forms and intricate verse. She wrote exactly 101 poems exploring diverse topics such as death and alcoholism. Bishop rose to prominence after she published her first collection of poetry, North and South, and published her first novel along with eighteen new poems in Poems: North and South—A Cold Spring, nine years later. Critics through the ages praise Bishop for her detailed imagery, and her influence in the postmodern poetry is noteworthy to this day.

“We are left alone, without excuse. This is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free” (Sartre 32). Radical freedom and responsibility is the central notion of Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy. However, Sartre himself raises objections about his philosophy, but he overcomes these obvious objections. In this paper I will argue that man creates their own essence through their choices and that our values and choices are important because they allow man to be free and create their own existence. I will first do this by explaining Jean-Paul Sartre’s quote, then by thoroughly stating Sartre’s theory, and then by opposing objections raised against Sartre’s theory.

In his 1946 essay Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre undertakes the task of defending existentialism against what he defines as “charges” (341) brought against it. Sartre begins to outline the “charges” brought against existentialism and further, existentialists. Following the medieval quaestio-form, Sartre begins with the statement of the objection, a short discussion, and then his reply to each.

This semester we have studied five works that all communicate different themes and views of existentialism through each protagonist's point of view. From reading, watching, and analyzing each piece of work, we have come to know existentialists as having a very interesting outlook on life. Almost all the existentialists in the five works we studied believe in freedom of choice. That humans define their own meaning in life and try their best to make rational decisions in spite of existing in what they consider an “unreasonable universe”. The protagonists in each short story and movie we have watched, have similar qualities between each other and quite a few differences. The two pieces of work that will be focused on are, ‘The Wall’ by Jean-Paul Sartre and ‘The Guest’ by Albert Camus.

Sartre’s atheist existentialism presented in his lecture mainly states that there is no human nature in which man can place his trust; therefore, man is free to choose and is the definer of himself through his own choices and actions. Sartre begins by listing some prevalent oppositions against existentialism. For example, the Communists blame it for inducing “quietism and despair,” because the idea that there is no code of ethics to tell man what he ought to do and become generates fear that might discourage people from committing themselves to action. Christians reproach existentialism for

For this paper, both movies used to explain Existentialism are adapted from real stories. The first film is Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed and the second is Into the Wild, starring Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless. In Sartre’s definition of existentialism, human existence precedes essence, therefore leading to meaning, purpose and identity. When Chris and Cheryl leave their family, friends and everything else they know from the society, they are attempting to find a meaning and purpose to their lives.

Jean Paul Sartre is a philosopher that supports the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialism is a twentieth century philosophy that denies any crucial human nature and embraces that each of us produces our own essence through our free actions. Existentialists like Sartre believe there isn’t a God that determines people’s nature. So, existentialists believe that humans have no purpose or nature except the ones that they create for themselves. We are free and responsible for what we are and our engagements; even though we are mindful that this can cause agony.

“The existential theory is concerned for the personal "commitment" of this interesting existing unique in the "human circumstances”.