Sartre’s Existentialism
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Philosophers believe that human beings are responsible and free, and they are their agents as they determine their development by acting at their will. Existentialists believe that people exist as an individual and they are capable of making their own choices and enjoy their freedom. Every person has the driving motives that help them to give their lives meaning and make critical decisions about their lives although they live in an irrational world. People strive to make their lives relevant by overcoming the many obstacles they face daily. The society should not restrict a person’s life or from acting in the way they feel like, as the restrictions violate the individual’s free will and their ability to exploit their full potential. The themes of existentialism include the significance of people, choices, and personal relations. People become anxious about death, life, and other severe situations, religion, and social criticism. This paper will discuss Sartre’s claims on existentialism, and the reasons why the student disagrees with Sartre claims on existentialism.
According to Sartre, people are unhappy with their situations, and there no definite way of separating good or bad. People are denounced by the life of freedom they choose to follow as they pursuit their dreams. He also argues that people make choices and are not willing to face the consequences since they live in a free world where they choose what to follow or not (Norris 2018). Sartre believes that his beliefs in the words such as despair, anguish, and abandonment that are mostly used in a negative context offer an optimistic and positive aspect that cannot even be delivered from the external texts cannot reveal. According to Sartre, abandonment by God means that the belief in God does not help in specific situations since there would be not immorality if God existed in all conditions.
In describing anguish, Sartre says that man is free and has the freedom to do anything they want, and they are getting condemned for being free. He says that people are responsible for what they feel, the emotions they choose, and everything that they become. Anguish forces people to perform things that they are not sure of the outcomes, for instance, a soldier who goes to war are not sure whether they will survive or die during the war, but they have to go. Anguish forces the soldiers to take uncertain actions. Sartre states that despair is when people have no control over the attitude and aspects of the world. Whatever people want may not be achieved as other people or external obstacles may occur, preventing them fulfills their dreams. The attitude of despair contributes to the way things turn out to be (Norris 2018). He argues that people should not rely on external forces for control since people are defined by the actions they take, he says if one wants to write, they will only be considered as writers if they write. People should not give up in life, and they should not allow misery to destroy their lives. Sartre believes that human beings’ existence came before essence; this means that the purpose of a person existed before they were born. They were born to fulfill the set purpose, and people define themselves with the actions that they take willingly, thus bringing the concept self subjectivity.
I disagree with Sartre’s claims on existentialism on his argument on despair. Despair would encourage people to remain quiet and inaction if they are faced with the external forces. People should not be hindered by external forces; instead, they should turn the external challenges into opportunities that will benefit them (Asekhauno 2017). I believe that actions do not sufficiently define a person, but the power to overcome obstacles and acting effectively despite the existence of external hindrances. Barriers do not always prevent a person from fulfilling their objectives, but the amount of effort that a person put into overcoming the difficulties. Therefore the notion of despair is not true and should not be encouraged.
God is omnipresent and that there is no one single instance that he has ever abandoned His people. I disagree with the notion that the belief in God does not always help people to behave morally. I believe God’s presence is always present with the people, and He guides them in their daily actions and to act ethically. Human beings are never lonely since God is still there to guide them, and when immorality occurs, it means that God wants to teach them a lesson. The presence of evil does not mean that God has abandoned His people, but he wants them to learn and understand the consequences of being immoral.
Existentialism concentrates on individual choices and ignores that some activities are as a result of collective interest and mutual agreements among the members of a group. Not all actions are a result of individual choices or interests; some activities are due to the benefits of a group (Asekhauno 2017). Therefore, a person may act due to the influence they get from others. Such as going on a strike is a result of a collective agreement and mutual interest among the members. Existentialism allows free human actions, and people may interpret it to see as if they have been allowed to commit crimes as existentialism also believe that God does not give moral laws. I disagree with this notion as human actions have a limitation, and those who commit crimes face the full force of the legislation. There is no licensing to perform crimes since there no one is above the law, and those who commit crimes get the appropriate punishment. God is the controller of everything, even for immoral actions since he allows people to act immorally as a way of teaching them a lesson.
Human beings are free to do anything, and they should be accountable for their actions. People should be allowed to act freely, and there should be no restrictions as they prevent them from developing and to achieve their full potential. There various issue that affects the existence of human beings, such as religion, the anxiety of death and life, and the significance of people’s choices and personal relations. People should adhere to the limitations of their actions since there is no one is allowed to act freely. God is the controller of all actions, whether moral or immoral, as He will enable the actions to happen for a reason, and he has never abandoned his people. Every person has the driving motives that help them to give their lives meaning and make critical decisions about their lives even though they live in an irrational world.
References
Asekhauno, A. A. (2017). That ‘Nothing’s ‘Something’: A critique of Sartre’s existentialism. Idea. Studia nad strukturą i rozwojem pojęć filozoficznych, 1(XXIX), 339-348.
Norris, M. A. (2018). Existential choice as repressed theism: Jean-Paul Sartre and Giorgio Agamben in conversation. Religions, 9(4), 106.