Jean Paul Sartre:
Existentialism
Questions to answer for yourself:
 What are the key elements of Existentialism?
 What would an "existential ethic" look like?
 How is Sartre like and unlike Nietzsche?
Key elements of existentialism I
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Opposition to rationalist tradition.
The belief that Radical Freedom
 is a CONDITION of human existence
 Rather than a CHARACTERISTIC of
human nature. [What is the difference?]
Who we are is a function of the choices we
make, not the other way around.
 We must commit ourselves at every
moment
Key elements of existentialism II
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The concept of "authenticity"
defined as living according to choices made
consciously and responsibly.
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There are no universal principles.
[from an anti-rationalist stance]
The social order is a "fabrication" that allows
us to avoid our isolation.
Responsibility for my choices is mine alone.
Sartre is an atheistic
existentialist
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What consequences does not believing in
God have for the existentialist?
 Existence precedes essence – we are
born and then make ourselves through our
choices.
 As we chose for ourselves we choose for
all humankind … How so?
Anguish/Folornness.

The existentialist feels these because without
the existence of God s/he is alone
Anguish

I am unable to escape a deep sense of
responsibility.
 "It is always for me to decide that this is the
angel's voice."
 I am not Abraham, yet I must perform
exemplary acts at every moment.
Rembrandt
Abraham & Isaac 1634
Caravaggio,
The Sacrifice of Isaac 1601-02
Folornness
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"God does not exist and we must face all the
consequences."
Why does this distress the existentialist?
 Because finding values in the "heaven of
ideas" disappears. (see Nietzsche)
If existence precedes essence , we cannot
fall back on a fixed and given human nature.
There are no excuses.
Man is "condemned to be free"
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Why condemned? Why free?
What is Sartre's view of failing to act?
 Hint: "man is nothing else than his plan."
What can we count on?
 That which is in our power.
There are no excuses outside ourselves
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“Love” equals a person's being in love
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“Genius” is nothing other than that
expressed in works of art.
"Culture" and freedom

Some say we are determined by our culture.
How does Sartre respond?
 Man is free to determine his existence in
relation to the culture [culture is a condition,
not a characteristic]
 "There is a universality of man"; but it is not
given, it is being perpetually made."
 "I
build the universal in choosing myself"
Two kinds of Humanism
1. Man as an end and a higher value:

Value is assigned in relation to the best
that certain men have done.
Sartre’s Critique: man isn't an "end",
because he is "always in the making"
2. Man as losing himself outside of himself.
Pursuing goals outside himself.
 Sartre believes that existentialism is
optimistic: a doctrine of action.
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Man is not a "thing"
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Even the worst conditions do not render a man
inhuman.
 Everything that happens to me is mine
 To decide to be non-human is still MY
decision.. (Frankl - concentration camp)
Example of war:
 If I am mobilized for war, it is MY war.
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"For lack of getting out of it, I have chosen it."
An example
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A young man in France during WWII is
faced with the choice of going to war or
staying with his grandmother who needs
him. He decides to go talk with a priest,
hoping the priest will make the choice for
him.
What does Sartre say ?
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He has already made his choice by going to
the priest rather than a military official.