Sartre and the Rationalization of Human Sexuality Essay

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.

A crucial concept required for this discussion is the concept of “emptiness”. Emptiness is the notion that nothing has an underlying essence or inherent existence. Therefore, even though things may appear to

Descartian dualism is one of the most long lasting legacies of Rene Descartes’ philosophy. He argues that the mind and body operate as separate entities able to exist without one another. That is, the mind is a thinking, non-extended entity and the body is non-thinking and extended. His belief elicited a debate over the nature of the mind and body that has spanned centuries, a debate that is still vociferously argued today. In this essay, I will try and tackle Descartes claim and come to some conclusion as to whether Descartes is correct to say that the mind and body are distinct.

Sexuality is defined as one’s sexual character which possesses the structural and functional traits of sex. In the Renaissance, this definition was accompanied with ideologies of gender. This incorporated knowledge led to their notions of the female being inferior to the male based on what was

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

Existentialism, a philosophical ideology conceptualized by Jean-Paul Sarte, encapsulates most thought processes where “the individual is obliged to make a choice as though he were choosing for all mankind” (Arnold, “Jean-Paul Sarte: Overview). Put simply, Sarte’s concept of existentialism is the thought process by which humans find themselves existing, and the analysis of their existence itself (Tulloch, Sartrian Existentialism). This analysis of existence found itself in many writings during the twentieth century, and acts a driving force in both Bishop’s “In the Waiting Room” and Lispector’s “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman”.

Jean-Paul Sartre provides explanation for the world in his definition of consciousness as existing as a being that is no thing: by inserting nothingness into the world, consciousness allows for being; (it "worlds the world"). He elaborates further, stating consciousness is not just free, it is freedom, since consciousness can never be the object it intends. According to Sartre, consciousness is the constant present: it serves as a nihilation of the past; by annihilating the past, what has been appears to us, giving us a sense of time. Since my consciousness can reflect on

The mind-body problem, which is still debated even today, raises the question about the relationship between the mind and the body. Theorists, such as René Descartes and Thomas Nagel, have written extensively on the problem but they have many dissenting beliefs. Descartes, a dualist, contends that the mind and body are two different substances that can exist separately. Conversely, Nagel, a dual aspect theorist, contends that the mind and body are not substances but different properties. However, although Nagel illustrates the problems with Descartes= theory, Nagel=s theory runs into the problem of panpsychism. In this paper, both arguments will be discussed to determine which, if either, side is stronger.

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

“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 the case of Spargo’s interpretation of Foucault the hegemonic ideal sexual subject is that of a straight man, who is presumably white and middle class. According to Foucault the category of homosexual emerged in the 19th century out of the development of the field of sexology, when medicine replaced religion as the primary producer of discourse on sexuality, and enforcer of (hetero)sexual norms . Foucault argues that despite their relative position individuals categorised as homosexual were able to create their own discourse (or counter-discourses) to the narrative on unnaturalness promoted by sexology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thus finding agency within constraining discourses . In this way sexuality and sexual subjects are constructed, understood and questioned through the discourse produced by those individuals and institutions with access to power.

As presented in the Phenomenology of Spirit, the aim of Life is to free itself from confinement "in-itself" and to become "for-itself." Not only does Hegel place this unfolding of Life at the very beginning of the dialectical development of self-consciousness, but he characterizes self-consciousness itself as a form of Life and points to the advancement of self-consciousness in the Master/Slave dialectic as the development of Life becoming "for-itself." This paper seeks to delineate this often overlooked thread of dialectical insight as it unfolds in the Master/Slave dialectic. Hegel articulates a vision of the place of human self-consciousness in the process of Life as a whole and throws light on the role of death as an essential

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).

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian, social theorist, philologist and literary critic whose work had a tremendous impact on several disciplines. He was not a sociologist by training, but he worked diligently on sociological issues and otherwise had significant influence on the work of other sociologists. One of his most famous works is the The History of Sexuality, in which he examines the emergence of "sexuality" as a discursive object and separate sphere of life. According to Foucault, the idea that everyone has a sexuality is relatively a recent development in the West. In Volume 1, Foucault discusses the relationship between sex and power in a historical context. He states that the ways in which humans think about sexuality is primarily shaped by the "repressive hypothesis," which claims that Western society had suppressed sexuality from the 17th to the mid-20th century, and this was due to the rise of capitalism and the bourgeois society. There are several key concepts in this book that will be discussed in this paper include repressive hypothesis, sexuality, power, and discourse. This paper will seek to show the ways in which sexuality is a discursive object, and how sexuality was linked to power throughout history.

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