The existentialist theory emphasizes choice and free will of a person and the individual will determine their own outcomes based on choice. Jean-Paul Sartre was a leading philosopher of existentialism and believed that there are no blueprints to one’s individual life. There is no purpose rather than to find their own purpose and build upon it. We are a product of our choices and we are who we choose to be. We determine our fate which determines our freedom.…
“Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance” (Sartre). These grim words are spoken by Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, who was a major figure in the study of existentialism. This term describes the philosophy that one is born without a purpose and the individual has to find purpose in their own lives by themselves. Much like Sartre, John Gardner’s protagonist from the novel Grendel is an existentialist that evolves into a beast with cynical, nihilistic, and sarcastic points of view. He has faced different truths and turmoil that have caused him to have this outlook on life.…
Jean-Paul Sartre is a strong proponent of Existentialism which asserts that “existence precedes essence” (682). To expand upon this, Sartre believes in absolute free will where our essence, which can be defined as our human character, is created by the actions our lifetime. To defend this claim, Sartre provides three key arguments to show that “man…[is] the ensemble of his acts” (690). Sartre’s first argument is that there is no determined human nature to make us do what we do, or to excuse what we do. This simply means that a preexisting human nature, which is another term for essence, doesn’t exist and can’t control what a person will do or become.…
Compare and contrast Camus’s, Nagel’s, and the existentialist’s (as set out by Sartre and De Beauvoir) positions on the meaning and value of human life. Which is the best supported position (be sure to give reasons for your judgment), and what problems does it still face? How might it respond to these problems? In this essay I will compare and contrast Camus’s, Nagel’s, and the existentialists’, specifically Sartre and De Beauvoir, positions on the meaning and value of human life.…
In the novel The Stranger, the author Albert Camus emphasizes the absurdities of life and he does this by striking the audience with Meursault’s blunt nature and his embodiment of existentialism. The novel explores existentialist ideology which represent the philosophy of life essentially being “pointless” .Since the message of existentialism can have a powerful negative connotation it can be surprising to understand how Meursault can be considered anything close to free especially , considering the freedom he gained happened after he committed murder but that’s what happened considering the sequence of events , since his routine hindered him from the enlightenment he gained from being captured. The Webster dictionary defines freedom as “the power or right to act, speak,…
First being, the attempt for Chris to discover his meaning and purpose as you would if you were an existentialist. The second, is Sartre’s perspective upon the responsibility for what man says and how he chooses to live. This philosophy is also explored by Chris McCandless when committing to his new lifestyle. In terms of hunting for food, shelter, warmth and water in order to survive. Sartre also wanted to make clear the connection between the negative perspective toward the view of existentialism and the more optimistic perspective in which he believed in and wanted to display within his works as McCandless did as well.…
Kierkegaard, Camus, and Sartre are three main philosophers that have overlapping ideas of Existentialism. Throughout Kierkegaard 's book Fear and Trembling, Camus’ book Absurd Creation, and Sartre’s book Existentialism and play No exit, the idea of the ability for one to make one’s own choices and decisions through free will is shown. These philosophers opened my eyes to a new perspective on what existence precedes essence means. While reading these books, I agreed with some ideas as opposed to others. I related with Camus’ thoughts on being able to change the way one thinks and with Sartre’s thoughts on existence preceding essence.…
Actions Speak Louder than Soliloquies: Existentialism in Hamlet In the 1600s, existentialism did not yet exist in name, but the ideas behind the movement were circulating during William Shakespeare’s time. Existentialism as we define it now focuses on “existence before essence,” the idea that humans exist and then write their own narratives, not the other way around (Crowell). One of the most influential leaders of the existentialist movement was Jean-Paul Sartre; his lecture “Existentialism is a Humanism” explains many of the principal concepts of the movement and defends his theory against its critics (Sartre). Many of the conflicts that Sartre and other existentialist philosophers discuss manifest themselves in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.…
Early in our lives we are blissfully unaware of our identity. It is solely dependent on those around us. Eventually there comes a time when most of us question our identities, some as early as their teens and some as late as their twenties or thirties. It is questioning our identity that I see as the first step to discovering our identity for ourselves. If we are okay with others defining us, then that is how it will be.…
Sartre’s view that existence precedes essence states that we decide who we want to be as individuals due to the fact that we are simply nothing in the beginning. The view emphasizes utilizing the free will that all individuals possess to create their own path for what the future entails. Nothing is determined in this viewpoint, therefore individuals become self-aware and responsible of who they are. Lastly, individuals decide what they want to believe and base their actions upon this preconceived idea. One reason Sartre believes we are so free because our freedom is inescapable and is required to establish ourselves compared to others.…
The Hell of No Exit Existentialism has always been a new way to view life. To live – to exist – without context, without labels, without definitions given by everyone else is a notion that is relieving for some and distressing for others. Written by Jean-Paul Sartre in 1944, the French play No Exit, paints a vivid and imaginative picture of an existentialist’s hell. By trapping one’s greatest fears in a room for eternity, Sartre’s intricately woven depiction of modern Hell introduces a new refreshing concept of afterlife as a form of psychological torment, which can in many cases be much worse than physical torture.…
As indicated by Sartre, God does not exist, and in this…
To be, according to Sartre, is to be thrusted into existence with no say so. To be is to have a specific individualism and, so, existentialism attempts to focus through the perspective if this individuals forced existence. Kierkegaard says that the individual’s forced being only makes sense when the individual has made a “leap of faith” into the religious life. Nietzsche, on the other hand, held that the self’s being is actualized once the self chooses to master himself/herself so that the self can then master its environment. Of course, Nietzsche’s view here is accompanied by his theory of truth.…
Since an individual has ultimate control over his/her decisions, these decisions that are made by that person are a result of what he is, and what that person is, is a consequence of his decisions. To make things clear, we have to agree on two points, first, a human being has no predetermined properties what so ever and that he/she came to existence before any essence was to be established. And second, a human being has a ultimate freedom of choice and decision. The first is self evident if we are to agree that there is no God, however, for the second notion of freedom of choice, Sartre argues that since God does not exist we have ultimate freedom of choice since we have no predetermined essence that drives us to make this or that decision in particular.…
One could argue that Sartre is wrong in this aspect, as humans are born with an innate ability to distinguish right from wrong, and are driven toward what is right. This is not a human essence, though. There are humans incapable of discerning between the two, and even a person who can make the distinction still, at times, acts in a contradictory…