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CHAPTER VII

SARTRE (1905-1980) 1. Sartre’s life and works :

Jean Paul Sartre was born in 1905 in Paris. His father Jean-

Babtiste Sartre was an officer in French Navy. His mother Anne-Marie

Schweitzer, was the cousin of Albert Schweitzer. When Sartre was only

fifteen months old, his father died, Sartre’s mother grew him up with the

help of her father Charles Schweitzer. Charles taught mathematics to

Sartre when he was in his early age and made him acquainted with

classical literature.

In 1915 Sartre attended the Lycee Henri IV in Paris. When he was

fifteen years old he read the book : Essay on the immediate data of

consciousness written by Bergson, Henri – Louis (1859-1941) and was

attracted to philosophy.

Ecole Normale Superieure an elite institution of higher education

in Paris was the place in which Sartre studied philosophy. He took some

of his classes at the Sorbonne. This institution (Ecole Normale

Superieure) has nourished many great French thinkers.

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Some of the eminent and distinguished figures of western

philosophy like Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Georg Wilhalm Friedrich

Hegel (1770-1831) and Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) had a dominant

influence upon Sartre’s thought.

When Sartre was studying in Ecole Normale in 1929, he got

acquainted with one of his classmates by the name of Simone de

Beauvoir ; and their friendship led to an intimate and very close

connection ; and continued for all their life. Simone de Beauvoir

afterwards became a famous writer and thinker ; and she is known as a

feminist.

Sartre, during the period of his education in Paris, met some other

distinguished individuals as : Raymond Aron, Simone Weil (1909-43),

Maurice Merleau Ponty (1908-61), Claude Levi−Strauss (1908- ).

In 1929, Sartre received his doctorate degree in philosophy from

Ecole Normale superieur. From 1929 to 1931, he joined the French

Army as a conscript. From 1931, Sartre taught philosophy in several

lycees.

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In 1933, for one year he attended Edmund Husserl’s lectures on

Phenomenology that was setting up in Berlin. Edmund Husserl (1859-

1938) was the founder of Phenomenology which is related to the

properties and essence of things.

In 1938, one of Sartre’s famous novels La Nausee (Nausea) was

published.

In 1939, during European war he was inducted into the French

military and was appointed for doing service in a meterological section.

At a later time in 1940 he was captured by the Germans. The Germans,

set him free since they did not find him to be physically suitable and fit

for military service ; then Sartre continued teaching in Neuilly (a suburb

of Paris), and afterwards in Paris.

He was active in the French Resistance ’too. But the German

authorities were not aware of his activities in the French Resistance

against the Germans; therefore Sartre got permission to publish his two

works both in 1943, first a novel The Flies and the second one was his

great philosophic work Being and Nothingness.

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Approximately in 1945, his atheistic, humanistic and socialistic

viewpoint about existentialism, caused a particular philosophic school

among the considerable part of European young generation and

intellectuals.

In 1945 he left teaching and established a political and literary

magazine by the name of Les Temps Modernes (Modern Times). He

worked as the " Editor in Chief " of this magazine.

Jean−Paul Sartre’s philosophic school, after the Second World

War, was celebrated to the extent that it enjoyed a cult status among the

intellectuals and young generation.

After 1947, Sartre as an independent socialist was active. He

criticized both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United

States of America during Cold War years. Though he supported USSR

positions, he frequently criticized Soviet politics.

Sartre wrote many works in 1950s ; most of them were concerned

with literary and political issues.

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In 1964, he was offered Nobel Prize for literature, but Sartre

rejected it since he believed that, receiving such a prize would

jeopardize his candour, uprightness and probity as a writer.

Sartre’s health was damaged by smoking and drinking

excessively. When he died in 1980, more than twenty five thousand

people participated in his funeral procession in Paris.

Sartre’s ashes were buried at the Montparnasse Cemetery. Later,

Simone de Beauvoir’s ashes were buried next to his.

Sartre’s works are as follows :

Sartre, J.- P. (1936a) L ’Imagination, Paris : Alcan; trans. F.

Williams, Imagination, a Psychological Critique, Ann Arbor, MI :

University of Michigan Press, 1962. (A history of theories of the

imagination leading up to Husserl.)

Sartre, J.- P. (1936b) ‘La Transcendance de l’ ego, Esquisse d’

une description phenomenologique’, Recherches Philosophiques 6; repr.

in La Transcendance de l’ ego, Esquisse d ’une description

phenomenologique, ed. S. le Bon, Paris: Vrin, 1965; trans. F. Williams

and R. Krikpatrick, The Transendence of the Ego. An Existentialist

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Theory of Consciousness, New York: Noonday, 1962.

(A phenomenological account of the ego.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1938) La Nausee, Paris: Gallimard ; trans.

L. Alexander, Nausea, or The Diary of Antoine Roquentin, New York:

New Directions, 1949; trans. R. Baldick, Nausea, or The Diary of

Antoine Roquentin, Middlesex: Penguin, 1965. (Novel in diary form

about the discovery by Antoine Roquentin of the contingency of

existence.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1939) Esquisse d ’une theorie des emotions, Paris:

Hermann ; trans. B. Frechtman, The Emotions: Outline of a Theory,

New York: Philosophical Library, 1948; trans. P. Mairet, Sketch for a

Theory of the Emotions, London: Methuen, 1962. (Study of the

psychology of the emotions.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1940) L ’Imaginaire, psychologic phenomenologique

de l ’imagination, Paris : Gallimard; trans. B. Frechtman, The

psychology of the Imagination, New York: Philosophical Library, 1948.

(A phenomenological study of imagination.)

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Sartre, J.-P. (1943a) L ’Etre et le Neant. Essai d ’ontologic

phenomenologique, Paris: Gallimard; trans. H.E. Barnes, Being and

Nothingness : An Essay of Phenomenological Ontology, New York :

Philosophical Library 1956; London : Methuen, 1957. (Sartre’s major

philosophical work: a study of the relationship between consciousness

and the world, and between consciousness and other consciousness.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1943 b) Les Mouches, Paris: Gallimard; repr. Paris:

Livres de Poche, 1971; trans. S. Gilbert, The Flies, in No Exist and

Three Other Plays, New York: Vintage Books, 1949. (Resistance play

based on the Greek myth of Orestes.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1945) Huis Clos, Paris: Gallimard ; repr. Paris :

Livres de Poche, 1971; S. Gilbert, In Camera, in No Exist and Three

Other Plays, New York: Vintage Books, 1949. (Drama of existence in

which three people are trapped together for eternity.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1945-9) Les Chemins de la liberte (The Roads to

Freedom), Vol. 1, L ’Age de raison, Paris: Gallimard, 1945; trans. E.

Sutton, The Age of Reason, New York: Knopf, 1947; vol. 2, Le Sursis,

Paris: Gallimard, 1945; trans. E. Sutton, The Reprieve, New York:

Knopf, 1947; vol. 3, La Mort dans l ’ame, Paris : Gallimard, 1949; trans.

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G. Hopkins, Troubled sleep, New York : Vintage Books, 1951.

(Triology of novels set in Paris of the early 1940s.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1946) L ’Existentialism est un humanism, Paris:

Nagel; trans. B. Frechtman, Existentialism, New York: Philosophical

Library, 1947, and Citadel, 1957. (A lecture purporting to present

existentialist philosophy as a humanism − later repudiated by Sartre as

over−simple.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1948) Les Mains Sales, Paris: Gallimard ; trans. L.

Abel, DirtyHands, or Crime Passionel, in No Exist and Three Other

Plays, New York: Vintage Books, 1949. (Political play opposing

realism and idealism.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1960) Critique de la raison dialectique, precede de

Questions de methods, I, Theorie des ensembles pratiques, Paris:

Gallimard; repr. in new annotated edn, 1985; first essay trans. H.E.

Barnes, Search for a Method, New York: Knopf, 1963; main text trans.

A. Sheridan−Smith and ed. J. Ree, Critique of Dialectical Reason,

London: New Left Books, 1976, and Atlantic Highlands, NJ:

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Humanities Press, 1976. (A lenghty attempt to reconcile existentialism

and Marxism within a philosophy of history.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1963) Les Mots, Paris: Gallimard; trans. B.

Frechtman, The words, New York: Baraziller, 1964; trans. I. Clephane,

Words, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1964. (Sartre’s (ironic) account of

his childhood.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1971-2) L ’Idiot de la famille, G. Flaubert de 1821 a

1857, Paris: Gallimard; trans. C. Cosman, The Idiot of the Family,

Chicago, IL: university of Chicago Press, 3 vols, 1981, 1987, 1989. (A

three−volume existential biography of Flaubert, intended to answer the

question, ‘What can we know of a man today?’)

Sartre, J.-P. (1983a) Les Carnets de la drole de guerre, Paris:

Gallimard; trans. Q. Hoar, The War Diaries of Jean−Paul Sartre, New

York: Pantheon Books, 1984. (Sartre’s diaries at the onset of the Second

World War.)

Sartre, J.-P. (1983b) Cahiers pour une morale (Notebooks for an

Ethic), Pairs: Gallimard. (Notebooks attempting a sketch for an ethics

with which Sartre was never fully satisfied.)

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Sartre J.-P. (1985) Critique de la raison dialeclique, tome II

(inacheve), L ’Intelligibilite de l ’Hisotire (Critique of Dialectical

Reason, Vol. 2 (incomplete), The Intelligibility of History), ed. A.

Elkaim−Sartre, Paris: Gallimard. (Volume 2 of the Critique, focusing in

particular on the question of the intelligibility of history.)

Contat, M and Rybalka, M. (1970) Les Ecrits de Sartre, Paris:

Gallimard; trans. The Writings of Jean−Paul Sartre, Evanston, IL:

Northwestern University Press, 1973. (A full bibliography of Sartre’s

works up to 1969. Later supplements are given in the English

translation, and in Obliques 18-19 (1979), ed. M. Sicard.)

2. Main Ideas of Existentialism (Keynotes and unifying ideas of

existentialism) :

For knowing Existentialism, it is necessary to point out the

keynotes and unifying ideas of this philosophic school. These keynotes

characterize the particular way of thinking of the existentialist

philosophers in general. The keynotes can be mentioned as follows :

1. Precedence of human existence to his essence

2. Anxiety

3. Absurdity

4. Nothingness

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5. Death

6. Alienation

For expanding the above central ideas of Existentialism, it can be

said that, the main perspective of the Existentialist thinkers is that, that

human existence precedes his essence ; man is a self-aware and sentient

being. The totality of man is abstracted in his own conscious existene.

“ ... It is the standpoint that existence precedes essence, has

primacy over essence. Man is a conscious subject, rather than a thing to

be predicted or manipulated; he exists as a conscious being, and not in

accordance with any definition, essence, generalization, or system.

Existentialism says I am nothing else but my own conscious existence.”1

The second unifying keynote of Existentialism is the Angst, that

is feeling of dread, anguish or anxiety on the basis of this Existentialist

stand point, man is involved in a fear in which he does not find any

object for it.

Now, according to the philosophy of Existentialism, fear of

nihility of human existence is the reason for his angst and anxiety.

Angst, is the latent and widespread qualification of human existence.

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Some of the great religions like the religions of Christ and Moses are in

reconciliation with Existentialism in the case of anxiety.

As an example, it can be referred to the story of the " Fall of

Adam and Eve " from the Eden in the old and new Testament.

The story comprises that, after expulsion of Adam and Eve from

the heaven ------- the sky ------- to the earth, they were condemned to

live in suffering and sin, in guiltiness and angst.

So, this shadowy and gloomy illustration of man’s life implies

that, the Existentialist thinkers decline to accept the notions like bliss, or

hopefulness about future; since these feelings indicate a cursory and

negligent consideration of human life. For existentialists, human life is a

tragedy.

“The awareness of ourselves as existents is attainable only

through experiences involving "anguish" or "dread" which alone are

capable of putting us in the "background of Nothingness (non-Being)

from which Being erupts." By "anguish" Heidegger does not refer to

the usual anxieties of daily life but to anguish as a dominating,

all−pervasive element of existence ------- dominating and all−pervasive

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because existence is essentially finite, finitude and death being

synonymous. The experience of anguish reveals us as " out in the world,

forlorn, without recourse or refuge. " Why we are flung into the world,

we do not know. We are, without finding any reason for our being. We

constitute "existence without essence." ”2

The third keynote of existentialism is the concept of absurdity.

For existentialist thinkers, human existence is absurd; and it is

unexplainable ; it is not possible to find any reason for the existence of

human being.

For some of Existentialists like Sartre who explicitly expressed

that he was an atheist, absurdity and meaninglessness of human

existence is the compulsory and inevitable consequence of man’s efforts

to make his life meaningful and purposeful in an unconcerned and

apathetic universe. In other words, when man considers that he lives in a

universe which is unconcerned and apathetic, he compulsorily and

inevitably strives and endeavors to make his life meaningful and

purposeful in such universe.

For Existentialist, man in this apathetic and Godless universe, has

no utter and unmitigated viewpoint from which his actions and

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preferences can be said to be rational. Even, Christian Existentialists for

example Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) who did not deny the existence

of God ’too, but accepted the absurdity and meaninglessness of human

existence. He believed that, man is involved in a net of subjectivity from

which he cannot be released.

“Granted, says the existentialist, I am my own existence, but this

existence is absurd. To exist as a human being is inexplicable, and

wholly absurd. Each of us is simply here, thrown into this time and

place ------- but why now ? Why here ? Kierkegaard asked. For no

reason, without necessary connection, only contingently, and so my life

is an absurd contingent fact. Expressive of absurdity are these words of

Blaise Pascal, (1623-62), a French mathematician and philosopher of

Descartes’s time, who was also an early forerunner of existentialism.

Pascal says :

When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed

up in the eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and

even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of space

of which I am ignorant, and which knows me not, I am

frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than

there, why now rather than then.”3

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Nothingness or Nihility, is the forth keynote and unifying idea of

Existentialism. There is an important connection between the freedom of

man and the principle of nothingness.

Nothingness, persuades man to prefer a manner of action to

another one ; and the future is open−ended and not blocked ; so when

man looks at the future, he faces nothingness ; and against such a void,

he naturally feels anguish and dread.

The same anxiety and dread explains and makes the nothingness

apparent to man ; it itself is the reason of his freedom. In other words,

nothingness is the main origin of freedom and feeling of anxiety and

dread. Therefore man feels that he is thoroughly alone and is left to

himself; so under this circumstance, man himself as an individual should

decide and act in the arena of the universe.

The role of every human individual’s decision and action in the

world, has the greatest importance for existentialists. The human

individual takes decision upon himself as well as upon others. The

consequences of every personal and individual decision cover and roll as

a wave thorough the society. Man is condemned to be free. He is

condemned since he has not created himself and nevertheless is free. So,

from the moment that, man is thrown and projected into this world, he is

responsible for his each and every action which is done.

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“If no essences define me, and if, then, as an existentialist, I reject

all of the philosophies, sciences, political theories, and religions which

fail to reflect my existence as conscious being and attempt to impose a

specific essentialist structure upon me and my world, then there is

nothing that structures my world. I have followed Kierkegaard’s lead. I

have stripped myself of all unacceptable structure, the structures of

knowledge, moral value, and human relationship, and I stand in anguish

at the edge of the abyss. I am my own existence, but my existence is a

nothingness. I live then without anything to structure my being and my

world, and I am looking into emptiness and void, hovering over the

abyss in fear and trembling and living the life of dread.”4

Fifth keynote of Existentialism is the concept of Death.

Death in Existentialism is the only conclusiveness ; inevitability

and certain happening of life; and existentialist is concerned about and

involved in the reality of death at each and every moment of life.

Existentialists focus on human awareness of death against old

Epicureans who said that, man until he alive, he does not face death ;

and when man dies he is no longer alive ; therefore if man is in search of

good life, it is better not to make himself anxious and distressed by

thinking about death ; since the death−thinking is a disturber of human

life.

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But, existentialists and in particular the German philosopher

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), are opposed to Epicurean thought and

believe that, if the notion of death pack off and depart from man’s mind,

the life no longer has meaning and value for human beings. For

existentialists particularly for Heidegger, death is the most immanent

quality of human existence; and is its unconditional and conclusive

potentiality. Nothing can conquer the death ; and it is the final destiny of

all human existence. Each and every human being knows that, finally he

will die. Death is a fact that produces dread and anguish in man’s mind.

Existence and death or in other words, the life and death are two sides of

a coin; and they are not separable from each other. Man, comes into

existence ; death also moves parallel to him and along with him.

For Heigegger, if man wants to remove his anxiety of death, he

should take death into his life and become familiar with it. Man should

not try to escape from the reality of death.

For Sartre, death smashes and breaks up the roll of "existence−for

itself ". He rejects the viewpoint of Heidegger that, death is the final and

ultimate possibility of human existence. Sartre, believes that, death is

not at all a kind of possibility but it is the elimination of possibility ; in

other words, for Sartre, death eliminates the possibility of existence.

Death is the ultimate and final absurdity of the whole existence.

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Of course, Sartre’s philosophy about death may seem in the first

glance to be disappointing and despairing, but this disappointment could

not be the reason for its falseness and invalidity. The profundity and

depth of some of Sartre’s analysis that, splits the looks of things and

superficial appearances; and penetrates into the depth of human

existence; this is undeniable.

“Related to the theme of nothingness is the existentialist theme of

death. Nothingness, in the form of death, which is my final nothingness,

hangs over me like a sword of Damocles at each moment of my life. I

am filled with anxiety at times when I permit myself to be aware of this.

At those moments, says Martin Heidegger (1889−1976), the most

influential of the German existentialist philosophers, the whole of my

being seems to drift away into nothing. The unaware person tries to live

as if death is not actual, he tries to escape its reality. But Heidegger says

that my death is my most authentic, significant moment, my personal

potentiality, which I alone must suffer. And if I take death into my life,

acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety

of death and the pettiness of life ------- and only then will I be free to

become myself. But here the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre begs

to differ. What is death, he asks ? Death is my total nonexistence. Death

is as absurd as birth ------- it is no ultimate, authentic moment of my life,

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it is nothing but the wiping out of my existence as conscious being.

Death is only another witness to the absurdity of human existence.”5

The last keynote and unifying idea of existentialism is the concept

of alienation.

“How, then, do existentialists use the concept of aliemation?

Apart from my own conscious being, all else, they say, is otherness,

from which I am estranged. We are hemmed in by a world of things

which are opaque to us and which we cannot understand. Moreover,

science itself has alienated us from nature, by its outpouring of highly

specialized and mathematicized concepts, laws, theories, and

technologies which are uninteligible to the nonspecialist and layman;

these products of science now stand between us and nature. And the

Industrial Revolution has alienated the worker from the product of his

own labor, and has made him into a mechanical component in the

productive system, as Marx has taught us.

We are also estranged, say the existentialists, from human

institutions ------- bureaucratized government on the federal, state, and

local levels, national political parties, giant business corporations,

national religious organizations ------- all of these appear to be vast,

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impersonal sources of power which have a life of their own. As

individuals we neither feel that we are apart of them nor can we

understand their workings. We live in alienation from our own

institutions. Moreover, say the existentialists, we are shut out of history.

We no longer have a sense of having roots in a meaningful past nor do

we see ourselves as moving toward a meaningful future. As a result, we

do not belong to the past, to the present, or to the future.”6

3. The Atheistic Humanism of Sartre :

Humanism of Sartre has a very complex and deep meaning. The

problem of human freedom that has a very great significance for Sartre,

is the main theme of his humanism. " Man is condemned to be free " is

the central core of Sartre’s humanism. Freedom of man is inevitably

followed by human responsibility. According to Sartre’s discourse on

responsibility, every human individual has a great mission and great

responsibility.

Humanism of Sartre maintains that human being is nothing but

his act ; man, has a grave responsibility and duty ; human individual is

nothing but what he makes " out of " himself, what he creates out of

himself, and what he brings out of himself into existence ; no one is a

born hero ; a wretched person is responsible for his wretchedness.

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Humanism of Sartre, forms and organizes the extract of his

philosophic school of existentialism.

Sartre, was aware of the problem that, the mental precipitations

and sediments based on fatalism, determinism, passive acceptance,

predestinarianism and necessitarianism encumber with human thoughts.

Antidote of this toxin ------- which makes the human mind idle and

wasted ------- is the developing and propagating of thoughts based on

free will (freedom). Sartre is known as the philosopher of freedom -------

freedom of human being -------. His most concern was about human

freedom and about the realm of man’s extensive authority.

The meaning of freedom in Sartre is that, man himself could and

should be effective on his destiny. Now, for Sartre giving up and

disregarding such freedom and free will by human being, is an evident

oppression to himself and on his fellow creatures. Therefore, the

discussion of responsibility is brought up in Sartre’s philosophy.

Humanism of Sartre is so closely connected to his existentialism

that, it is not possible to separate them from each other. They are both

one and the same. And it is because of this that, Sartre maintains that

existentialism is humanism.

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Humanism of Sartre is explicitly atheistic. He does not believe

that, God has created the man. Man, has not any essence ------- quiddity

------- that, would be applicable to all human individuals ; since, in that

case every human individual is a particular example of man’s universal

concept ; and if it is so, then essence precedes historical existence -------

Historical existence is an existence that through lapse of time in the

course of history reposes in different situations ; and therefore it is

situated on the route of change -------. But Sartre strongly rejects and

repulses it; on the contrary he insists that, existence precedes essence ;

and on this basis, his philosophy of existentialism is established.

Preceding existence to essence in Sartre’s existentialism which is the

same as humanism, means that, human existence has priority to his

essence; strictly speaking, it means that, man first of all exists (comes

into existence) and turns to his existence, realizes and finds out himself

and rises in the world ; he knows himself, namely defines himself.

In Sartre’s philosophy of existentialism, man is a being ; even

before his definition through a concept, he exists ; and this being is

"human" who he has human reality. In other words, man is not definable

in existentialism. It is because, that, "man is primarily nothing "; and

then he becomes something thus and thus. Therefore, there is no human

universal essence, but there is only " necessary existent " in the universe.

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This phrase of Sartre : "Man is nothing" should not be

misunderstood. It should be considered deeply; he means that, man so

long as, does not take action, cannot be attributed ; therefore, he is

neither good nor bad but he is nothing. In this case man is as an empty

vessel which should be filled with poison or honey depending on

goodness and badness of action in the course of life.

By these explanations, Sartre wants to declare that, man has a

higher position than stone and wood. It is subjectivism against

objectivism, i.e. superiority of man over things. Subjectivism for Sartre,

is not a kind of introversion in which man is surrounded by his

individuality and solitude; and he does not have the possibility of

connection with other individuals. Subjectivism in Sartre’s

existentialism is that, it maintains that "man is nothing but what makes

out of himself "; and this "self−making" is merely his peculiarity among

other beings. The root of man’s self−making is in himself not in the

external world. This self−making power of man, is always renovating

through opening the borders of future. In other words, subjectivism for

Sartre is the authenticity of ego i.e. man.

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Man, is above all a " project " that he lives in his subjectivity.

Thus, his existence is different from other beings.

Man, in Sartre’s existentialist humanism, has a universal

responsibility. If the existence precedes essence, then man is responsible

for his existence. He is in charge of whole responsibilities. For example,

the responsibility of motion of a vehicle is charged with the driver ; but,

since his existence is dependent on his own effort, the absolute

responsibility is also charged with himself.

Thus, Sartre tries to make man understand that he himself is

possessor and authority of what he is; and that he himself is fully

responsible for his existence and for his each and every action.

Also, it should be pointed out that, when Sartre says man is

responsible for his existence, it does not mean that man is responsible

only for his particular individuality ; on the other hand it means, every

human individual is responsible for all human individuals.

Finally, subjectivism in Sartre’s humanism means that, man

cannot exceed and transgress the limits of his introversion, that is, his

subjectivity; since Sartre said that "human being is nothing but what he

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makes of himself ", "Humanity" does not have any meaning but actions

and behaviors of the whole human beings, and that, man cannot acquire

more than what he obtains by this way. Therefore, exceeding this world

is impossible for human being. There is nothing above human freedom,

in the world.

“ ‘Condemned to be free, man bears the weight of the whole

world upon his shoulders; he is responsible both for the world and

himself as a mode of being.’ If ‘responsibility’ be defined as the

‘consciousness (of) being of the for–itself is overwhelming, since it is

that by means of which there is a world and by means of which man

makes what he is.”7

In humanism of Sartre, man has no any divine mission, therefore

it is the man who is the example and pattern in the world ; as if, whole

human individuals have fixed their eys upon each of individuals and

adjust their behavior according to the behavior of the only same single

man. In other words, everyone’s behavior is an example and sample for

the others.

In Sartre’s philosophy of humanism, it is human beings that,

create the values in life; and it is human beings that create goodness and

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badness. So, the task of man in the world is very momentous and

crucial.

Human being has no any inborn inclination for good and bad ; so

it cannot be said that man does such and such an action on the basis of

his nature and essence.

Human being relies on and depends upon his own will. In fact, the

world affair is so and so, that, man decides it to be such and such; i.e.

Sartre has made the universe thoroughly a "humanized universe". Man,

is nothing but his life and the collection of his actions and behaviors.

Man exists only to the extent that fulfils his projects.

Existentialist Humanism of Sartre as he believes in it, is not a

philosophy based on human isolationism; because it measures and

deliberates the man and defines him through his action and behavior.

Thus, humanism of Sartre, does not give pessimistic description

of man, as his protestors think. On the contrary, there is no more

optimistic philosophy than Sartre’s humanism; since it maintains and

insists that, man’s destiny is only in his own hands. And also, humanism

of Sartre is not an effort for rejecting and disregarding the human action,

282

since it declares explicitely that, human beings should not have any hope

but their actions; because what makes life possible for human beings, is

only their actions.

“You have seen that, it cannot be regarded as a philosophy of

quietism since it defines man by his action; nor as a pessimistic

description of man, for no doctrine is more optimistic, the destiny of

man is placed within himself. Nor is it an attempt to discourage man

from action since it tells him that there is no hope except in his action,

and that the one thing which permits him to have life is the deed. Upon

this level therefore, what we are considering is an ethic of action and

self–commitment.”8

In the philosophy of Sartre, humanism means that, man in place

of God, is the creator of values, and it means that, human life has no any

meaning before it is lived; in other words, when man lives his life then

he makes it meaningful; it is man’s task and duty to make the life

meaningful. Values of life are nothing but the meanings that, man

chooses them.

“ ... but if I have excluded God the Father, there must be

somebody to invent values. We have to take things as they are. And

283

moreover, to say that we invent values means neither more nor less than

this; that there is no sense in life a priori. Life is nothing until it is lived;

but it is yours to make sense of, and the value of it is nothing else but

the sense that you choose.” 9

Strictly speaking, humanism of Sartre is a unique humanism an it

is thoroughly different. In fact, for Sartre the term humanism is applied

into two different senses. Theory of humanism in first sense, maintains

that, human being is treated as an ultimate end and sublime value. As a

result of such humanistic theory, man in general can be valued on the

basis of certain men’s best action and behavior; but this type of

humanism far Sartre is futile; Since Sartre never treats the man as a goal

and end ; because on his opinion, man should be determined every

moment over again. If it be treated that, there is such a humanity that,

can be worshiped as the French philosopher Auguste Comte

(1857−1798) claimed and originated a philosophy on the basis of

"Religion of Humanity"; Sartre, answers that, such fundamentalistic

theory of humanity leads to Fascism. Therefore, Sartre rejects this type

of humanism.

Another meaning of humanism that, Sartre has in his mind and

takes into consideration is very deep and profound. According to

284

Sartre’s existential humanism, man is always outside of himself. Man

through founding his projection in the " world outside of himself " -------

external world ------- he brings himself and humanity into existence. The

existence of man is dependent on the pursuance of supreme goals. Thus,

there is no any other world but human world.

Sartre applies the term humanism to say that, there is no

law–maker in the universe but it is man himself. And that, man while his

abandonment in the world, only he himself decides for himself; and he

himself is dominant on his destiny not any other supernatural power or

divine rule.

“But there is another sense of the word, of which the fundamental

meaning is this : Man is all the time outside of himself: it is in projecting

and losing himself beyond himself that he makes man to exist; and, on

the other hand, it is by pursuing transcendent aims that he himself is able

to exist. Since man is thus self–surpassing, and can grasp objects only in

relation to his self–surpassing, he is himself the heart and centre of his

transcendence. There is no other universe except the human universe,

the universe of human subjectivity. This relation of transcendence as

constitutive of man (not in the sense that God is transcendent, but in the

sense of self–surpassing) with subjectivity (in such a sense that man is

285

not shut up in himself but forever present in a human universe) ------- it

is this that we call existential humanism. This is humanism, because we

remind man that there is no legislator but himself ; that he himself, thus

abandoned, must decide for himself ; also because we show that it is not

by turning back upon himself, but always by seeking, beyond himself,

an aim which is one of liberation or of some particular realisation, that

man can realise himself as truly human.”10

4. Ethics in Sartre’s Existential Humanism :

Sartre, compares morality with art; in his opinion there are

similarities between moral choice and work of art, of course he does not

want to claim that, ethics has aesthetic foundation. He applies it as an

example. The common aspect between art and ethics is that, in both

cases man has to create and invent. In other words man has dealt with

creation or invention. Therefore for Sartre, in ethics, man before

perpetrating an act, cannot be valued, since no action has been created.

In art also, an artist before creating a work, his work cannot be valued.

Thus, human morality is a choice that is exercised by him and

himself only.

286

For Sartre, the content of morality is not abstract but it is

concrete, therefore consequently it is unpredictable. Concrete morality

deals with sample and pattern; but abstractive morality has to deal with

principles and rules.

Sartre, in his great work : Being and Nothingness maintains that,

concrete means "in world–man". For Sartre, man is changing for a new

one ; and he is renovating himself and he is becoming, so the content of

his morality ------- which is concrete ------- is not predictable to establish

any principle and rule for human morality. Morality of man should

always be created and innovated; the only important matter is that

whether the performance of moral creation and innovation of man is on

the basis of freedom or not.

“There is this in common between art and morality, that in both

we have to do with creation and invention. We cannot decide a priori

what is that should be done. ... Man makes himself: he is not found

ready–made; he makes himself by the choice of his morality, and he

cannot but choose a morality, such is the pressure of circumstances upon

him. We define man only in relation to his commitments; ... The content

is always concrete, and therefore unpredictable; it has always to be

287

invented. The one thing that counts, is to know whether the invention is

made in the name of freedom. ...

... One can choose anything, but only if it is upon the plane of free

commitment. ...

... but if I have excluded God the Father, there must be somebody

to invent values. We have to take things as they are. And moreover, to

say that we invent values mean neither more nor less than this; that there

is no sense in life a priori. Life is nothing until it is lived; but it is yours

to make sense of, and the value of it is nothing else but the sense that

you choose.”11

5. The place of Freedom in Sartre :

Freedom is a sublime value for all the existentialist thinkers; but

Sartre has the most emphasis on freedom ; hence, he is known as the

philosopher of freedom.

For Sartre, the world of possibility is the world of human

freedom. The world is the object and realm of freedom. Man’s

responsibility originates from his freedom. Human being has created his

moral values by virtue of his own freedom; and the main condition of

freedom is being without of God’s "command and prohibition".

288

Sartre by rejecting the fate, destiny and any kind of determinism,

finds the world as expectant of innovative and unknown issues. But,

meanwhile human freedom is his greatest responsibility in life ; and the

same freedom is the origin of man’s sublimity, loftiness, position and

dignity. Man’s choice is the opex of freedom.

In Sartre’s opinion, nothingness is the main origin and root of

human freedom. If Sartre emphasizes on freedom, it is because for him,

man’s existence is equal to, making himself.

Now, how can man make himself ? It is when he believes that he

is free in the world; and that there is no support for his life but himself.

Therefore, human individual is produced out of his own action. So,

freedom is the first condition of human action. Nothing can limit man’s

freedom but freedom itself.

“I am condemned to exist forever beyond my essence, beyond the

causes and motives of my act. I am condemned to be free. This means

that no limits to my freedom can be found except freedom itself or, if

you prefer, that we are not free to cease being free.” 12

289

Human individual can consider his freedom when he looks into

others’ freedom to the same extent. Thus, freedom of every human

individual depends upon other’s freedom; every individual choice is in

fact a universal choice and it is for all. Because the result of every

individual’s action will leave an impression like a rising wave on all the

individuals. Consequently, every human being, because of his actions is

responsible to all.

On this account, in Sartre, the main ground of human anxiety is

the same as the feeling of responsibility.

Man, as the historical agent and moving force is the "Concrete

Absolute" as per Sartre’s existential humanist philosophy. Human

individual conveys a meaning as a " present being in the universe "; and

the universe conveys a meaning merely as a "being for man".

Finally, Sartre’s theory is an ethical theory of human individual

freedom and choice. His main discourse is about sublime and

non–historical freedom of man that ultimately manifests in some way in

the world of reality. Freedom and praxis in Sartre’s thought are as tools

for explaining the issues and affairs; but they are not the things that, man

can or should try to develop.

290

Emphasis on human individual and his " non–historical freedom "

is one of the constant characteristics of Sartre’s philosophy. On the basis

of such understanding, man is absolutely free; and freedom offers itself

as the only goal and objective.

Man, ever and all the time, cares for freedom. Freedom of the

performer of an act is the basis and condition of all actions.

If existence precedes essence, as Sartre claims, then we can never

justify the issues by restoring them to "human God–given nature"; In

other words there is no determinism; and it means that, man is free ;

man is freedom. There are no values and commands from any authority

but human himself.

“For if indeed existence precedes essence, one will never be able

to explain one’s action by reference to a given and specific human

nature; in other words, there is no determinism ------- man is free, man is

freedom. Nor, on the other hand, if God does not exist, are we provided

with any values or commands that could legitimise our behaviour. Thus

we have neither behind us, nor before us in a luminous realm of values,

any means of justification or excuse. We are left alone, without excuse.

That is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free.

291

Condemned, because he did not create himself, yet is nevertheless at

liberty, and from the moment that he is thrown into this world he is

responsible for everything he does.”13

In Sartre’s philosophy of freedom, no one can make his freedom

as his goal unless he makes others’ freedom as his own goal ’too. Man

while demanding his freedom, he is obliged to demand others’ freedom

’too; since every human individual’s freedom is dependent on the other

individuals’ freedom.

Man is free when, all the human beings in the world are free.

“We will freedom for freedom’s sake, and in and through

particular circumstances. And in thus willing freedom, we discover that

it depends entirely upon the freedom of others and that the freedom of

others depends upon our own. Obviously, freedom as the definition of a

man does not depend upon others, but as soon as there is a commitment,

I am obliged to will the liberty of others at the same time as mine. I

cannot make liberty my aim unless I make that of others equally my

aim.”14

292

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. From Sacrates To Sartre, The Philosophic Quest, T.Z. Lavine, A

Bantam Book / March 1984, P. 330

Also it is well expressed and extended Vide :

I. Existentialist Thought,

Ronald Grimsley, M.A, D.Phil., L.ES L. Cardiff, University of Wales

Press, 1955, Printed in Great Britain, P. 90 – 97

II. Jean – Paul Sartre,

The Existentialist Ethic, by Norman N. Green

Ann Arbor Paperbacks

The University of Michigan Press

Second Printing 1966

First edition as an Ann Arbor Paperback 1963

Copyright © by the University of Michigan 1960, P. 12-23

III. Existentialism and Education,

By George F. Kneller,

Philosophical Library, INC. New York

Copyright, 1958, by Philosophical Library, INC.

293

15 East 40 Street, New York 16, N.Y., Printed in the United States of

America P. 42 – 57

2. Existentialism and Education,

By George F. Kneller,

Philosophical Library, INC. New York

Copyright, 1958, by Philosophical Library, INC.

15 East 40 Street, New York 16, N.Y., Printed in the United States of

America P. 104, 105

See also :

I. Jean – Paul Sartre,

The Existentialist Ethic, by

Norman N. Green

Ann Arbor Paperbacks

The University of Michigan Press

Second Printing 1966

First edition as an Ann Arbor

Paperback 1963

Copyright © by the University of Michigan 1960, P. 9, 17

294

II. Contemporary Philosophy,

Existentialist Perception of The Human Condition : With Special

Reference To Sartre, Dr. D.R. Bhandari J.N.V. University

Internet Address :

20th WCP Existentialist Perception Of The Human Condition with

Special Reference to Sartre. htm

3. From Sacrates To Sartre, The Philosophic Quest, T.Z. Lavine, A

Bantan Book / March 1984, P. 331

4. Ibid P. 331

5. Ibid P. 331, 332

6. Ibid P. 333

7. Existentialist Thought,

Ronald Grimsley, M.A., D. Phil., L.ES L. Cardiff, University of Wales

Press, 1955, Printed in Great Britain, P. 139

8. Existentialism And Humanism,

Jean – Paul Sartre

Translation and Introduction by Philip Mairet P. 44

Methuen & CO. LTD. LONDON, 36 Essex Street, Strand, W.C.2

295

First English edition printed in 1948

Reprinted ................................. 1949

Catalogue No. 5092 / U

Printed in Great Britain

9. Ibid P. 54

10. Ibid P. 55, 56

11. Ibid P, 49,50,52,53,54

See Also :

From Sacrates to Sartre, The Philosophic Quest, T.Z. Lavine, A Bantam

Book / March 1984 P. 365 – 375

Also it is extensively expressed Vide :

Jean – Paul Sartre,

The Existentialist Ethic, by

Norman N. Green

Ann Arbor Paperbacks

The University of Michigan Press

Second Printing 1966

First edition as an Ann Arbor Paperback 1963

Copyright © by the University of Michigan 1960, P. 44- 59

296

See also :

Being and Nothingness, An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology

by Jean – Paul Sartre Translated and with an introduction by Hazel E.

Barnes

University of Colorado

Copyright, 1956, by the Philosophical Library, INC. New York,

P. 625-628

12. Being and Nothingness, An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology

by Jean – Paul Sartre

Translated and with an introduction

by Hazel E. Barnes

University of Colorado

Copyright, 1956, by the Philosophical Library, INC. New York

P. 439

13. Existenlialism And Humanism,

Jean – Paul Sartre

Translation and Introduction by Philip Mairet P. 34

Methuen & Co. LTD. LONDON,

36 Essex Street, Strand, W.C.2

297

First English edition Printed in 1948

Reprinted .................................1949

Catalogue No. 5092 / U

Printed in Great Britain

See also :

From Sacrates To Sartre, The Philosophic Quest, T.Z. Lavine,

A Bantam Book / March 1948, P. 349-363

See also :

Existentialism and Education ,

By George F. Kneller,

Philosophical Library, INC. New York

Copyright, 1958, by Philosophical Library, INC.

15 East 40 Street, New York 16 N.Y., printed in the United States of

America P. 85-91

14. Existentialism And Humanism,

Jean – Paul Sartre

298

Translation & Introduction by Philip Mairet P. 51, 52

Methuen and CO. LTD. LONDON,

36 Essex Street, Strand, W.C.2

First English edition printed in 1948

Reprinted ................................ 1949

Catalogue No. 5092 / U

Printed in Great Britain