Sartres Philosophy of Life - Essay Example

____________ ID: _________ Sartre's Philosophy of Life Jean Paul Sartre - a twentieth century philosopher who believes in atheisticexistentialism, suggests that man is human in nature and from birth to the end of his life, he is limited to choose certain actions. These actions depict that he is free to choose from among alternatives and cannot escape choosing. Existentialism makes a man miserable and forlorn in the world and since man is not the creator of this universe, he is unable to understand the consequences of making decisions. Sartre's philosophy is that existentialism is close to humanism and as a child smiles with no worries in his inner consciousness or subconsciousness, so is the man who must lead his life as closer to nature as possible in order to attain true satisfaction (Walter 1988, p. 346). Though Sartre does not believe in true contention, this paper analyzes the extent to which Sartre's philosophy connote a happy and prosperous life. Existentialism is a doctrine that to some extent supports and enhances human subjectivity to lead an authentic life, but at the same time it overrides the evil nature hidden behind human consciousness, and appears in a 'naturalistic' way of perceiving life. Sartre points out that man is emotional in nature and feel the way things physically appear to him. He, therefore, is free and well aware of the fact that this consciousness can bring him pain and anguish in many ways. According to Sartre it is better to say that man is unhappy and remains so, until he discovers the true purpose of his appearance in the world. Therefore, in order to live an authentic life, man must not consider such consciousness that brings him any pain or despair and obstructs in his way of attaining true freedom. A man in the world according to Warnock (1970) however, adopts some emotional attitude to which he reacts and perform towards. In order to acquire tranquility he must feel the 'sense of nothingness' which determines the true nature of his feeling (Warnock, 1970 p. 93). Is Human Consciousness a way to happiness Other than emotional respects, Warnock (1970) points out that it is impossible for Sartre to consider the relationship between man and the world without utilizing the concept of nothingness (Warnock 1970, p. 93). Sartre perceive man, as a conscious being, which is a 'being-for-itself' and differs from other unconscious objects or subjects, which are 'beings-in-themselves'. However consciousness when marked off from other conscious beings is the ability to consider the reality or confront the reality by thinking themselves as separate from other things. Such a consciousness which creates a void inside a human being is therefore referred to as the emptiness which divides man from considering himself 'beings-in-themselves'. In this context we can say that 'nothingness' suggested by Sartre is like space which though remains outside the conscious being, has no boundaries and constitutes the distance which divides him from this world. In case we perceive 'nothingness' as internal to the 'being-for-itself', it refers to the emptiness within, which aims to fill by man's own actions, his personal thoughts and his own created beliefs. It is this possession of 'emptiness' that despairs man when he finds himself in situations making it possible for a 'being-for-itself' to perceive the world and also to act in it, by determining his own course of action by reference to an imagined future. Such imagination escorts the man to what Sartre has referred to 'bad faith' and due to this, his freedom is subjected to an unrealized potential which is the main cause of despair for the man, because while hiding behind such bad faith, no man is able to escape from taking actions or making choices. Therefore he suffers when his expectation of 'bad faith' remains unfulfilled and there he feels emotionally downtrodden and forlorn. On the other hand if man considers 'being-in-itself' and never subjects to any bad faith, he feels himself emotionally free because he is able to make choices freely without despair and without thinking about consequences and since he don't have any expectations, he never gets despair from the consequences. He has no excuses to justify himself and by no means he escapes from even the most difficult situations. In other words the man is now free in actual to confront the world. That indicates human consciousness opens a door to happiness when a man is able to fill the internal gap in his nature in whatever way he chooses. How Sartre's "Nothingness" relates to Happiness Whitmire (2006) mentions that what Sartre philosophically carries is a significant shift from radical freedom to the point of 'being' and 'nothingness' (Whitmire, 2006). Sartre believes that nothingness of man is, paradoxically, the most important feature responsible for the rise and fall of his emotions. While analyzing this 'nothingness' in the light of the external and the internal consequences, we believe that a conscious being is aware, through nothingness, of the difference that exists between himself and his world. Man perceive himself as an object which in the context of external world or some aspect of himself (internal world), goes along with the first-order awareness. However, there is also a second order awareness, to which most of the people are unknown to relate their awareness. Awareness, according to Sartre, is itself the main feature of consciousness, which helps man in making right decisions while selecting from among many alternatives. It is the man's consciousness or the second order awareness that leads him in determining the correct mode of action and, whether a man chooses a right or wrong path, he is always at a certain level and possess a certain knowledge of the mind which unlike the body is close to identification. Another aspect of the concept of nothingness which can be related to the cause of happiness according to Sartre is the idea of 'negation'. Sartre relates this 'nothingness' to 'negation' by proving that both are interconnected. Negation forms the basis of the subject whereas Nothingness is confined where a man does not feel to ask or inquire questions, this way he is ready for a negative as well as for an affirmative reply to his question. Since he has the ability to receive and digest even the most negative answer, he give up unnecessary expectations, which according to Sartre is the beginning to quit 'bad faith'. Moreover, Sartre wants man to swallow and accept the truth of being 'nothing', let his ego down, and let his inner consciousness down to earth so as to live a genuine authentic life. How bad faith ruins Human contention Bad faith is what keeps a person aloof from every kind of happiness. This has already been proven with Sartre's belief, because he suggested that previous philosophers have failed to give a convincing account of the world, simply through neglecting to consider what it is like being in the world (Warnock, 1970, p. 97). Sartre answers the question how we should describe the interaction between man and the world, between 'being for himself' and 'being in himself' (ibid). 'Being for himself' require materialism, and worldly symbols for prosperity like wealth, fame etc that brings physical luxuries of life. On the contrary, 'being in himself' is the awareness that subconsciousness provide, and in order to attain true satisfaction of oneself, man must be able to being in himself not only in general situations of life but also in situations which depend upon particular nature of individual in the world. 'Being for himself' provokes bad faith within because, it support materialism and in this situation man seeks tranquility in worldly things and matters and let excuses to rule his inner conscience. These excuses fall neatly into the category of what Sartre describes as 'bad faith' (Birchall 2004, p. 4). Since man is more tended towards materialism, he starts building up towers of expectation, which are laid on the foundations of bad faith. When these expectations remain unfulfilled, man loses his trust on his inner self, and gets despair and feel emotionally forlorn. Thus 'being in himself' alleviates the probability of bad faith, thereby filling the inner self with light and hope to survive a good life. A common example that Sartre provides in most of his works is racism; in fact fascism, colonialism and imperialism are all examples of bad faith because they all deny human status of certain persons on the grounds of accidental and irrelevant physical features (Birchall 2004, p. 81). From Hitler to World War II, Sartre has experienced all political events in the veil of racism, which itself is the best example of how man shapes bad faith. Sartre finds that racism is a key element in bridging between writing and action (ibid). Similarly, Sartre talks about consciousness, subconsciousness, state of mind and meta physics as if he allude to the most concrete reality which dominates human nature. For Sartre, the possibility of bad faith exists in human consciousness, which when compound with 'nothingness', makes bad faith possible which in many cases is actual, because from the most general features of consciousness to the particular possibility, it is not necessary to exist in all cases (Warnock 1970, p. 97). Santoni (2005) mentions that with racism comes violence, which is of course a phenomenon mainly responsible for inclusion, violence is a main reason for Sartre's final exclusion from 'fraternity' or 'human community' (Santoni, 2005). Violence is when one person gets deprived of some or all freedom through force, and it counts in bad faith because again causes the other person to seek excuses for taking revenge for inner satisfaction, which is against consciousness and the rule of nature. Santoni suggests "In the conflict that characterizes our original relation with the other as freedom, bad faith is the mutual and reciprocal process of trying to steal the freedom of the other or of attempting to recover it" (Santoni, 2005). Treating freedom as an object is dehumanization, which includes bad faith. Moreover Sartre pronounces bad faith as objectification of violence's deceitful attempt to treat freedom as a thing while still wanting it as freedom. How one can be contended with Existentialism Concrete moral foundations support self commitment which the man believes. This 'self-commitment' is understandable and bears the relativity of absolute commitment (Walter 1988, p. 363). With commitment comes self-determinism and since there is no human nature as such, there is no necessity for a man to determine himself in one direction rather than another. Among several possibilities according to Warnock (1970) is the possibility of a man answering 'no' to every suggestion, not only what he should do, but also of what he should think, or even how he should describe and categorize what he perceives in the world (Warnock 1970, p. 98). When a man for the first time experiences this nothingness by feeling true freedom within himself to do and to think whatever he chooses, he suffers emotional pain because at that time he realizes how unable he is to bear the thought of his boundless freedom, and in order to escape from this anguish, he often adopts the cover of bad faith. Bad faith provokes and is responsible for bringing inauthenticity in life. Existentialism suggests that man's nature is not ruled, governed or influenced by anyone else, therefore what is of value to him is independent decisions by external influences. Man is responsible for shaping his own human nature and creating his own values that makes him contended to live in the world. Existentialism eradicates evil nature of humans because the more man is closer to nature, the more he lives happily in the world without external or internal worries. With 'external worries' I mean those that exist outside influences and that can change human nature slowly and steadily and ultimately transforms human towards maliciousness. However 'internal worries' are the ones that result from bad faith arising from fake excuses and expectations and are the creation of man's own mind and take place when combined with external worries. Self-consciousness arises when man is present in his inner self. Wang (2006) suggests that this way a man seeks two things at the same time, to possess a secure and stable identity, and to preserve the freedom and distance that come up with self-consciousness (Wang, 2006). Does Freedom means a source of 'Happiness' to Sartre Sartre refers freedom to be the primary goal of his ethics because what he believes to refer to the final goal of humanity is the freedom of men's ultimate end. Therefore a reign of concrete freedom is the human realm to which he calls as living under 'inter-subjective unity' (Anderson 1993, p. 59). Sartre believes that the goal of human reality is not love or happiness, nor it is a classless society as if these are achieved once and for all if true freedom is achieved. Happiness is achieved when true freedom is experienced which is devoid of all material concerns and human worries. Wang (2006) argues that a state of happiness is not desirable for Sartre and it is impossible to achieve perfect happiness because of the human nature which often starts reflecting on newly established identity, when finds inner solace (Wang, 2006). Man in this stance dissociates himself from it and once again is trapped in the same device, because he prefer two things at the same time, the satisfaction of his worldly desires and the freedom that comes with self-awareness. In this way he demands 'being-in-itself' and 'being-for-itself' at the same time. The pursuit of Happiness Sartre considers the pursuit of happiness in two ways, the first way Sartre himself declare as failure because it is the sadness of all philosophies that declare human nature in its own way as the end of history and every man feels repugnant for an end of history (Baiasu, 2003). Many ancient philosophers like Kant in their categorical imperative indicates that happiness is first the moral good, and then the moral law. However Sartre, unlike Kant believes that value in happiness is actually value in perfection, which is a moral feeling, or the will of man itself, it has nothing to concern with the will of God. Therefore, it is moral goodness and solid believes within the subconsciousness of man which brings him inner peace and it also helps man to be realistic and practical. Sartre believes that happiness can be acquired only through understanding an 'absolute' purpose of oneself which is an attempt to justify the value of man's actions, for which a man must implicitly affirm that the purpose is justifiable in its turn and confirms that his implicit choice is free. For Sartre, this 'absolute' purpose is based on freedom, and when along with freedom the 'absolute' purpose is justified, man is ready to receive other ends. This when applied in bad faith has a motivational factor that gives man an edge for staying safer. Categorical Imperatives are justified according to individual's freedom, for which happiness is easy to acquire, provided it allows philosophy that upholds mystification and bad faith. For Sartre to achieve true happiness is to forbid bad faith. References Anderson C. Thomas, (1993) Sartre's Two Ethics: From Authenticity to Integral Humanity: Open Court Publishing: Chicago. Baiasu Sorin, (2003) 'The Anxiety of Influence: Sartre's Search for an Ethics and Kant's Moral Theory', Sartre Studies International. Vol. 9. No. 1, pp. 21. Birchall H. Ian, (2004) Sartre against Stalinism: Berghahn Books: New York. Kaufmann Walter, (1988) Existentialism: From Dostoevsky to Sartre, Revised and expanded, A meridian book. Santoni E. Ronald, (2005) 'The bad faith of Violence-And Is Sartre in bad faith regarding It', Sartre Studies International. Vol. 11. No. 1-2, pp. 62. Wang Stephen, (2006) 'Human Incompletion, Happiness and the Desire for God in Sartre's Being and Nothingness', Sartre Studies International. Vol. 12. No. 1, pp. 1. Warnock Mary, (1970) Existentialism: Oxford University Press: Oxford. Whitmire Jr. F John, (2006) 'The Double Writing of Les Mots: Sartre's Words as Performative Philosophy', Sartre Studies International. Vol. 12. No. 2, pp. 61. Read More