Existentialism is a Humanism Essay Example for Free

Existentialism is a Humanism EssayIn Existentialism is a Humanism, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) presents an accessible description of existentialism. A key idea of existentialismand of the human condition is that existence precedes essence. The essence of something is its meaning, its intended purpose. A paper cutter is make to cut paper that is its point. Humans, however, do not have an essence. human race exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, just now afterwards, defines himself. We have no greater purpose, no pre-determined plan, no ultimate meaning. We have, in Sartres words, no human nature, since there is cypher (e.g. immortal) outside of us which would conceive of it for us. We are simply here, and it is up to us to define ourselves.Responsibility Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself. We have choice, we have subjectivity, and we choose what we will make ourselves to be we are entirely responsible for our existence Thus, existentialisms first move i s to make every man aware of what he is and to make the full responsibility of his existence rest on him. This thought is lots not easily accepted. Subjectivity is a word that riles up many. If everything is subjective then nothing is objective nothing is absolute Our values are nothing more than our whims nary(prenominal)hing is right or wrong Rabble, rabble, rabble Sartre replies that, it is impossible for man to transcend human subjectivity. He isnt saying I cull subjectivity over objectivity, hes asking, how keister we possibly not be subjective? Even the religious individual who believes that morality is absolute and comes from God must, at some point, choose to believe that this is the case. Our responsibility is a blessing and a curse. It leads us to feel things like anguish, forlornness, and despair.Anguish We experience anguish in the face of our subjectivity, because by choosing what we are to do, we choose for everyone. When you make a decision you are saying this is how anyone ought to behave given these circumstances. Many people dont feel anguish, but this is because they are fleeing from it. If you dont feel a sense of anxiety when you make decisions, its because you are forgetting about your total and involved responsibility toward yourself and all of human race.Forlornness Forlornness is the idea that God does not exist and that we have to face all the consequences of this. There is no morality a priori. There is no absolute right or wrong. There is no ultimate judge. This is a very distressing idea. As Dostoievsky said, If God didnt exist, everything would be possible permissible. Without God we have nothing to cling to. There is no determinism, man is free, man is freedom. We have no values or commands to turn to which legitimize our conduct. In other words, we have no excuses, and we are entirely responsible for our decisions. What are our values? The only way to determine them is to make a decision. At the end of the day, your ideal s arent what matter what matters is what you actually did.Despair Despair arises because we only have power to change things that are indoors our power to changeand there is a lot we rear endnot change. Reality is impartial and out of your control, except for small aspects of it here and there. We despair because we can never have full control of the future.What leave alone Happen Will Happen Tomorrow, after my death, some men may decide to set up Fascism, and the others may be cowardly and muddled plenty to let them do it. Fascism will then be the human domain, so much the worse for us.Regardless of what is right or wrong, good or bad, and regardless of whether these are absolutes or not, things will be as man will have decided they are to be. What will happen will happen and humanity will be entirely responsible for what it does. Does this mean we ought to become passively accepting of what will happen? Sartre says the exact opposite. Does that mean that I should abandon mys elf to quietism? No. Quietism is the attitude of people who say, Let others do what I cant do. The doctrine I am presenting is the very opposite of quietism, since it declares, There is no reality except in action. Moreover, it goes further, since it adds, Man is nothing else than his plan he exists only to the extent that he fulfills himself he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life.No Excuses This is why existentialism horrifies some people. It puts such a burden of responsibility squarely on their shoulders. They cant stand to think they were at teddy for not being a great or successful person, for having no great friendships or love. They think they are the victim of circumstances they havent had the proper education, leisure, or incentives they havent found the right person yet they havent had the opportunity to show their greatness. Sartre, however, says that The coward makes himself cowardly, the hero makes himself heroic. The o perative is an artist because of the works of art he created, not because of what he could have created.The mathematician is famous for the math he did, not what he maybe could have done. We find that this is a harsh thought to someone whose life hasnt been a success. We are responsible for our successes and failures. But at the same time, this harshness forces us to face the improbably important fact that Reality alone is what counts. Sartre sees these views not as a pessimism, but as an optimistic toughness. Optimistic in that we are the rulers of our lives our destiny is within our hands we are encouraged to take action.Sartre summarizes his idea of optimism and action in the following passage. Thus, I think we have answered a number of the charges concerning existentialism. You see that it can not be taken for a philosophy of quietism, since it defines man in terms of action nor for a pessimistic description of manthere is no doctrine more optimistic, since mans destiny is with in himself nor for an attempt to discourage man from acting, since it tells him that the only hope is in his acting and that action is the only thing that enables a man to live.Is Choice Arbitrary? Sartre ends this piece with a further defence of subjectivism, in which I wish he had gone into a little more detail. He says people are still not satisfied with the idea of subjectivism, and objections usually come in one of the following forms 1. head then, youre able to do anything, no matter what Youre promoting anarchy But this isnt the point. It is not possible to not choose.In not qualification a choice you are still choosing not to choose. Choice is inescapable we are condemned to be free because we are human, whether or not we are existentialists. 2. You cant pass judgement on others, because theres no reason to prefer one idea to another We can still inhibit values, and values appear out of the choices we make. Through our actions (as an individual and as a group), we create ethics. 3. Everything about your choice is arbitrary We define ourselves through our actions, in descent to involvement. And as we make ourselvesas we make choicesit is absurd to say we are choosing arbitrarily.