Unit 7: Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) is the public face of existentialism. His fictional and philosophical works affirm the existentialist priority of concrete, situated, and historical human existence. He stresses the value of choice, responsibility, and authenticity in human self-fashioning. Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964 – an honor he refused because he maintained it conflicted with his professional, personal, and political commitments.
In this unit, we examine Sartre's contributions to existentialist philosophy and highlight his place in the movement's history. In particular, we explore how Sartre expanded on the existentialist themes his predecessors dealt with, such as the notions of authenticity, anxiety, and freedom.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- identify Sartre's main contributions to existentialism;
- summarize Sartre's analysis of consciousness as a nothing;
- summarize Sartre's version of atheistic existentialism;
- discuss Sartre's idea of freedom; and
- analyze Sartre's notion of authenticity.
7.1: Sartre's Contributions to Existentialism
The French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre was trained in philosophy. His early education concentrated on Cartesian (René Descartes), neo-Kantian (Immanuel Kant), and Bergsonian (Henri Bergson) philosophies. He was then deeply influenced by the German phenomenologists Edmund Husserl (1859–1938) and Martin Heidegger (1889–1976).
Sartre has become the public face of existentialism. He did more to popularize the movement than any previous philosopher. Sartre's particular brand of existentialism, his popular 1956 lecture "Existentialism is a Humanism", and the horrors of World War II brought existentialism into the mainstream.
Sartre was concerned with human freedom, choice, responsibility, and authenticity. In Being and Nothingness (1956), we see that he derived these concepts from his thinking about consciousness and his commitment to atheism. His most famous phrases, "existence precedes essence" and "man is condemned to be free", reflect Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Marx's significant influences and reveal the direction of 20th-century existentialist themes.
The phenomenological movement held that we can reduce or trace all human knowledge back to an original "lived experience". Proponents prioritized concrete, descriptive analyses of our basic experiences over logical, abstract reasoning. Like Heidegger, Sartre appropriated the phenomenological method and applied it to the subject of "existence".
Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were personal companions and professional collaborators from 1929 until Sartre's death. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx influenced Sartre's political sensibilities. Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880), the French writer who wrote philosophical novels, stories, and plays, was a longstanding literary influence on Sartre.
Read this article about Sartre's life and work. Pay attention to how Sartre uses the idea of consciousness. When do we become aware of our consciousness? In other words, when do we become self-aware?
Read this article about the work and life of Sartre. How was Sartre's attempt to reconcile existentialism with Marxism similar to, yet different from, what Heidegger attempted to do? Which of Sartre's novels do you think best expresses his existentialist philosophy?
7.2: Consciousness as a Nothing
Sartre distinguishes among objects, consciousness, and self-consciousness. Sartre calls the world of things "being-in-itself" and our consciousness or perception of these things "being-for-itself". Self-consciousness transcends both.
We know ontology is the philosophical discipline that studies being or existence. There are two kinds of being: the in-itself (en soi) and the for-itself (pour soi). Things that are in-itself just are: they exist. However, we can use our intentionality of consciousness and directedness to interpret or negate the for-itself from the world.
Consciousness is not a thing in itself. In other words, consciousness has no essence – it is our relationship, interpretation, or perception of the in-itself. Our consciousness can negate the in-itself to the extent that "categorization requires saying where the class ends: where the lack of that class lies. And this is a part of the job of the for-itself, as the 'source of all negation'" (Ron McClamrock, Final Lecture on Sartre).
Again, consciousness has no essence: it is part of the objects to which it is directed. In this sense, the in-itself occurs before consciousness. The essence of things and our awareness of things are the same (because we apply our interpretation to what we perceive in the world as conscious human beings).
This leaves self-consciousness, the ego, or the "I". There is awareness, and then there is reflected awareness; in a sense, we are aware of our awareness in a special way. For example, when we read a novel, we are aware we are reading a novel. Our awareness is, ontologically speaking, transcendental; we are not in the world in the same way that being-in-itself or being-for-itself are.
As you watch this video, think about what consciousness has meant for previous philosophers concerning Sartre's conception of the term. What does it mean to say that consciousness is a nothingness? Compare what Sartre means by the "for-itself" and the "in-itself". Make a list of the differences between these two concepts. Also, pay special attention to Sartre's notion of bad faith. Try to adopt Sartre's view on this concept. In what ways do human beings consider themselves to be in bad faith?
7.3: Existentialism Is a Humanism
Sartre first presented his work Existentialism and Humanism at a public lecture in Paris. He wanted to define and defend existentialism since his critics complained his philosophy was too pessimistic and relativistic, centering too squarely on the subjective misery of humankind.
As you watch this lecture, pay attention to why Sartre argues existentialism is a type of humanism. Make a list of the criticisms he received regarding existentialism. How does Sartre respond to his critics? Are the criticisms valid? Do you agree with any of them? Sartre argues that existentialism does not lead to isolationism or quietism, but rather that existentialism conceives the human subject as always in the world, with others. Pay close attention to how Sartre presents and justifies this argument.
7.4: Atheistic Existentialism
Sartre's declaration that "existence precedes essence" means that essence is a creative act: "there is no given human nature". We are free to make who and what we are (to create our essence) through our choices (Warnock, Philosophy Bytes, 1:46). Before our choices, we exist as physical beings but have not established our essence.
As Rob Harle, the artist and philosopher, explains, Sartre believed that if God were "a supernal artisan" and created human beings in His image, the person's essence would be predetermined, and humans would not be free to make their own choices or define their own essence. Human beings would lack the ability to choose the essential what-it-is-to-be-me.
On the contrary, Sartre argued that this type of divine creative force does not exist:
Conscious "subjects" [human beings as opposed to animals, plants or inanimate objects] are characterised by: being free, responsible for themselves, have no determined essence and therefore are not caused, are not fixed and can never be complete.
Watch this lecture. Do you think Sartre believes we are responsible for who we are? What else are we responsible for? Do you agree with Sartre's assertion that existence comes before essence? Does a distinct human nature exist?
7.5: The Burden of Freedom
Sartre acknowledges our facticity, or facts about ourselves that we cannot control. For example, we have no control over when or where we were born. These facts are irrelevant to our freedom. Some features of our lives are determined but do not make us free or unfree.
For Sartre, freedom correlates, from a practical standpoint, with our choices. The choices we make are ours. No one else can choose for me, and our choices are not illusory: we do not believe we are making a choice when, in fact, we are not. Instead, these choices are real.
The ontology Sartre develops in Being and Nothingness provides the metaphysical framework for understanding freedom:
We choose everything about our world, in that even the way in which we conceptualize the world – as a matter of the for-itself – is something that we choose rather than something that is forced on us by the in-itself. Thus in some extremely pervasive sense, we choose the way the world looks to us.
– Ron McClamrock, Final Lecture on SartreWhile human freedom is a cornerstone of existentialist thought, Sartre goes further and argues we are "radically free". This is because Sartre believes God does not exist. However, Sartre characterizes radical freedom as humanity's greatest burden.
As you watch this video, consider the role existential themes play in culpability and responsibility. What do Sartre's existential themes of freedom, commitment, despair, and choice mean in the context of self-identity? What does he mean when he says "being is slavery, nothingness is freedom"? Is Sartre's philosophy nihilistic or pessimistic?
7.6: Sartre's Notion of Authenticity
Sartre believes we cannot avoid human freedom. He would say it like this. Since every choice I make is mine, mine alone, and characteristic of who I am, I am responsible for what I choose and what I become. To recognize this responsibility is to be authentic. I act in bad faith when I try to project blame or claim my situation dominates my actions.
Bad faith is self-deception. When I do not take responsibility for my choices and actions but foist the responsibility on someone or something else, I act as if I am a thing, not a conscious human being, determined by forces outside my control.
Watch the video and consider how Sartre's passion for writing and literature may have informed his existential philosophy, particularly his concept of authenticity. Which of the plays listed in the article most contributed to his concept of authenticity? Do you think his willingness to be a provocative person involved in war efforts and political struggles positively influenced his existential thoughts?
Unit 7 Assessment
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