Jean Paul Sartre: Existentialism
Download
Report
Transcript Jean Paul Sartre: Existentialism
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
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
The concept of "authenticity"
defined as living according to choices made
consciously and responsibly.
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
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
"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"
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
“Love” equals a person's being in love
“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.
Man is not a "thing"
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.
"For lack of getting out of it, I have chosen it."
An example
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 ?
He has already made his choice by going to
the priest rather than a military official.