Jean-Paul Sartre’s Philosophy: Radical Freedom and Responsibility

Sartre's perspective on freedom is “We will freedom for the sake of freedom. And through it, we discover that our freedom depends entirely on the freedom of others and that their freedom depends on ours. Those who hide their freedom behind deterministic excuses, I will call cowards. Those who pretend that their own existence was necessary, I will call scum”. In other words, Sartre’s believes that freedom is absolute, and the existence of one's freedom. Every man values stand for themselves, as the freedom is the foundation of each individual's values. Human freedom is made up of consciousness ability to get out of the sense that human beings can not pass to be free. Sartre also mentions that from freedom, one is able to change its attitude

Sartre emphasizes the mantra of existentialism. His slogan is “existence precedes essence”. Essence is what makes something what it is. According to Descartes, our essence is our rational mind – it makes us who we are. Sartre argues humans aren’t born with an essence—they don’t start with one. Humans start by simply existing. At the beginning, there is no internal essence or human nature. Our essence is later defined by

René Descartes believed that the mind and body are separate; that the senses could not always be trusted, but that because we as humans are able to think about our existence, we possess some sort of entity separate than our fleshly body. I believe this separate entity to be a soul”an immaterial and

This distinguishes the human person from the human body: in the case that the human identity is tied up solely in its physical components, the scenario in which nothing existing would simply leave no room for the scenario’s consideration via one’s mind, creating a paradox. Therefore, Descartes’ conclusion that from the mind exists separately from the body lends itself to be the most immediate, logical explanation for human identity.

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

Jean Paul Sartre's Existential philosophy posits that is in man, and in man alone, that existence precedes essence. Simply put, Sartre means that man is first, and only subsequently to his “isness” does he become this or that. The implication in Sartre's philosophy is that man must create his own essence: it is in being thrown into the world through consciounsess intent, loving, struggling, experiencing and being in the world that man is alllowed to define itself. Yet, the definition always remains open ended: we cannot say that a human is definitively this or that before its death and indeed, it is the ultimate nothingness of death that being is defined. The concepts that Sartre examines in Being and Nothingness

Sartre proposes an interesting view on free will when he says, "either man is wholly determined or else man is wholly free." This quote shows us that Sartre believes that man is free to do what he wants. For Sartre, freedom is the most basic value, which renders possible all other values the way our fundamental plan precedes and grounds our small choices. In that sense freedom is the source of all values. It is not logically possible to make sense of human responsibility and notions of justice without a conception of free will. This is because it is free will that allows us as humans to choose and make the right decisions in life.

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.

To be free is to have the unregulated power to choose one’s own values. For de Beauvoir, freedom is the characteristic with which we are able to describe our existence: “Freedom is the source from which all significations and all values spring. It is the original condition of all justification of existence” (24). Freedom entails a choice of one option over another, and one’s choice cannot be predetermined, lest she be unfree. It follows that the freedom of choice for all values, actions, beliefs, thoughts creates an existence that is indeterminate, ambiguous, and is only justified by assigning meaning using this freedom. It is therefore necessary that an appropriate reaction and critical analysis of a situation take place when exerting one’s own freedom in the world.

Bryson also offers within his essay an alternative theory to that of Sartre and Lacan. This perspective comes from Keiji Nishitani (cited in Bryson, 1988), whose book “Religion and Nothingness” is largely based on the criticism of Sartre 's ideas of subject as central to the field of vision, and the perceived threat from the intruder. Nishitani argues for radical impermanence; that the object is what it is only in relation to other objects and that the perceived qualities of the object are impermanent. All objects are in a constant state of growth and decay and they all change depending on their environments. Furthermore, the only way to stabilize an object would be to blank out the entire universe around it. Both subject and object rely on each other to

In his Discourse on Method, Rene Descartes offers the above proposition, in response to the radical doubt (Discourse on Method 15)This implies that, even the human ability to doubt one’s existence is proof that humans are thinking beings, and therefore must exist in the universe, despite all else. Nietzsche has written in contrast to this statement, discussing the contradictions and assumptions surrounding the proposition. Stemming from this initial premise, both Descartes and Nietzsche go on to discuss the mind/body problem. Descartes argues for the separation of mind and body, while Nietzsche offers a premise based on a deep connection between the two. I seek to compare the writings of both philosophers, and explore holes in judgment and scope on the part of Descartes, and prove as to why Nietzsche’s discussions are superior of the two.

Sartre attested that the human being is a useless passion due to our insatiable desires. Markedly, human beings desire to retain the infinite and that need is simply impossible. For the search for the unlimited is tiresome and unappeasable.

When Sartre says “existence precedes essence,” he means that a person first exists – is conscious and present in reality – and then is able to create their own personal essence – a person’s definition and purpose – through actions and will. The idea that God created man implies that God has a set purpose for each individual creation and knows exactly what is being created before it is actually created; therefore, in this view, essence precedes existence. However, Sartre argues that because there is no God, there is also no human nature – no “universal conception” – and each person is free, at their own will, to decide their being (348).

Sartre is one of the constructors of the philosophy of existence that is existentialism. Humans must first be born and exist before they are able to define their essence. He