Sartre's Existentialism

Jean-Paul Sartre, in "Existentialism," argues that his philosophy is based on existence preceding essence, which means that the significance of an individual's life is created by the individual through his willed action and is not innate. He says that most people see God as the creator of man (and his essence) just as a manufacturer creates a paper-cutter. The existentialist, on the other hand, rejects the presence of God, which leaves man to work out his destiny and the meaning of life for himself. Without God, man must create, shape and define his own nature.

Existentialism holds that to be a man means to be aware that one is alone in the universe, that he is what he wills himself to be and nothing more and nothing less. Man must consciously plan his creation of himself by himself, rather than merely let things happen to him or rely on another man. The individual alone is responsible for his life and the significance of that life.

At the same time, existentialism holds that a man is responsible for all other men in that the choices he makes creates an image of man as the individual believes man should be. In other words, as the individual creates himself through his willed action, he also, in effect, creates all men at the same time, at least in the sense that his actions reflect his commitment to what he sees as good and not evil.

Sartre says that a man "chooses" all men as he "chooses" himself, which means that he creates the best man he can be and thereby creates the

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own configuration, the particular way in which that universality is manifested in his life. And, again, as he creates his own particular configuration, he is, in effect, creating a configuration which he inevitably holds up as an example of how he believes other men should be and act. An existentialist is a humanist, says Sartre, in the sense that he does not judge man but sees him as always evolving, always becoming, always able to create himself, or create himself anew by taking action which creates that definition and its attendant meaning and values. Existentialist humanism sees man at the crossroads of his own subjectivity and the possibility of transcending, "passing beyond" that subjectivity by his actions into a community of other men. Man is alone, without God, in freedom, but his consciousness of his connection to other men and the actions he takes to bridge the gap of aloneness brings him together with other men who are doing the same. There are many problems and contradictions in Sartre's philosophy, particularly in terms of his remaining true to the core of existentialism. He sets up a world in which man is alone, anxious, forlorn, anguished, without a God and without any external or even internal essence to guide

Category: Philosophy - S