Jean Paul Sartre and Existentialism
Jean Paul Sartre was born in Paris, France in 1905 and died in 1980. His approach to Existentialism emphasized the fundamental elements of human freedom. Sartre takes an activist position in regards to freedom. He believes that freedom must be dealt with and accepted. His philosophical approach to Existentialism has brought him into the fame and company of philosophers such as Descartes. Sartre views freedom as unavoidable as he states, “ We are condemned to be free.” It is our decision to believe if that freedom is to be valued or not, however, the fact remains that being a person is to be free. We do things as a direct result of being free because we have choice. Freedom creates the condition that we are able to analyze the value of that freedom. Sartre says that we are free and we are responsible for our actions. Since we are totally responsible for our actions, we are free but we are condemned because we are not here by our own choosing. Sartre’s ideas on freedom begin with “existence preceding essence.” According to Sartre, if we exist, then we are free. He states that existence will precede essence. Essence, according to Sartre, is the actions we take in life. These actions define who we are. In
Sartre believes that there is no human nature. He believes that if there is no human nature, then there is nothing that can limit our actions. When we choose between things, we are giving choices values. These values are useful to us because they maintain our lives. He says that that human nature does not exist but there is a human condition. We need to exist in this world and we choose to do certain actions that have value, which defines all of humanity. He says that we have choices and those choices continue to define us. When we ponder on a decision, he says that we really have already made up our mind of what action we are going to take. He further states that we are constantly aware of our own mortality and we make conscious choices that are influenced by that mortality. Sartre contends that if we choose not to choose, that is a choice. We will always choose the path that defines us and we are responsible for all of our actions. Sartre’s existential belief about existence preceding essence begins with the latter. He says there is not any human nature and there is no God. We begin to exist and we define ourselves through our actions, which becomes reality. Our condemnation of being free exists because we did not create ourselves. We began to exist and then we use choice to determine how we will act. We will always be free and with the freedom we have, we are responsible for our own actions and choices make us free. Our choices have created a code for all of us to follow of what is good and what is bad. The existentialist believes that there is no influence by God, if he exists, and we are responsible for our own actions. Sartre says that if God does not exist, there is no right moral code that makes us who we are because it is dependent upon man to decide the goodness of his choice. Not only are we condemned to be free because we did not choose to exist; we are also condemned to be free because we are the only ones responsible for our actions. order to be defined then existence must come first. Sartre says that we are nothing first. Then when we come into existence, we create ourselves thro
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Approximate Word count = 1440
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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