Sartre No Exit Essay

Sartre No Exit Essay
Jean Paul Sartre was a French philosopher born on June 21st 1905. He was also a novelist, playwright, political activist, and a literary critic. His works
continue to influence sociology, critical theory, post–colonial theory, and literary studies to this day. His work mainly focused on the idea of
existentialism. The most decisive influence on Sartre's philosophical view–point was his weekly attendance to Alexandre KojГЁve's seminars, joined
with many other philosophers and intellectuals such as, Raymond Queneau, Georges Bataille, Maurice Merleau–Ponty, AndrГ© Breton, Jacques Lacan,
and Raymond Aron. In 1944, he wrote an existentialist play called No Exit (French: Huis Clos). This play was seen as one of the best plays to clearly
convey his philosophy.
In this play, three deceased adults, Garcin, Inez, and Estelle are brought to a room in hell by the same mysterious Valet. The three souls expected
their hell to be filled with tools used for physical torture, but instead they find a regular room furnished in Second Empire style. They all refuse to
word their crimes and Estelle believes that a mistake has been made.
Eventually, Inez gets frustrated and demand that they confess. Afterwards, she realizes that they were put in the same room to make each other...show
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As the lives of Garcin, Inez and Estelle continue in Hell, their main torments are the things that they were never able to achieve on Earth. Due to the
consequences of their actions, they eternally suffer in Hell. This presents a contrasting view to one aspect of existentialism, something which Sartre
was heavily affiliated with. If there were no consequences, on what grounds would people be sent to Hell? This new view brings to light the absurdity
of life that Sartre surely wanted to make
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Sartre And Identity Essay
Sartre is more or less saying that our identity, what we perceive ourselves as and how we project it onto others, is a tabula rasa. A blank slate. The
more decisions we make, as our life propels forward, the more it shapes us into who we are and will become. We are born as nothing and have the
ability to define ourselves through a series of choices that is acquired through free will. With that being said, we are born, neither good nor evil. We
have no predetermined disposition of who we are or will soon be.
Sartre's view is that to have essences, we need first to exist. The view that is opposing that statement is saying we already have many paths
established for us before we are born. The way we go about deciding which course to travel is...show more content...
Compared to other objects and life forms that inhabit this planet, they already have a purpose, we do not. We are free because of the choices we have
to make in order to create a purpose.
When presented with a multitude of choices, it can become overwhelming to decide what to do. It is easier to pass the responsibility of making a
decision on to someone else. In doing so, it relinquishes the burden that one would have had if forced to make a decision. I myself fall prey to
becoming overwhelmed when people look to me for a decision. I am a very indecisive person, constantly going back and forth between the options
that are given to me, all the while never being satisfied with what I pick.
As a kid, I wanted freedom from my parents. I'm not complaining about the joys of being my own person, but no one said how stressful being an
adult is. I heard not one word on how no one really knows what they are doing. We all are making educated guesses on how to be a proper adult.
Being at times is fun, the not so fun part is the amount of money it takes to not live on the street. Sometimes I want to sell all of my things and live in
a car, but that will have a ton of responsibilities of its

Sartre
Jean–Paul Sartre was an existentialist French philosopher. In Being and Nothingness, he writes that "Man is a useless passion." Sartre reaches this
conclusion because "man loses himself as man in order that God may be born. But the idea of God is contradictory and we lose ourselves in vain."
Sartre is saying that, through the invention of God, man surrenders his freedom and individuality, and therefore, his humanity. InExistentialism is a
Humanism, Sartre elaborates on this by claiming that humanity has no purpose and that there is no such thing as a human nature. In his rejection of a
perfect God, Sartre raises the significance of the imperfect individual up to the empty space left in the absence of a divine master. Sartre asserts that
...show more content...
This is despair, or a lack of hope. To hope would be pointless, because any factor outside of the individual's own influence should not be of concern.
There is no God in Sartre's world, so there is no greater being that possesses the power to influence these factors. Because of this, Sartre adopts a
stance similar to that of Epictetus, that one should only concern themselves with what is within his power to influence. As Sartre writes that "things
will be what men have chosen them to be." (Sartre, p 36). In this statement, Sartre both assigns responsibility to the human race for its actions and the
choices made each individual human and raises another issue. If whatever will happen will happen, what is the purpose of trying to change that
which is within our power? Sartre recognizes this problem and addresses it immediately by answering "Man is nothing other than his own project. He
exists only in so far as he realizes himself, therefore he is nothing more than the sum of his actions, nothing more than his life." (Sartre, p 37). In other
words, action is the only way for an individual to truly exist. If one submits himself to quietism and complacency, he surrenders his humanity because
he is surrendering his individuality and the ownership of his thoughts to more powerful people. This is exactly the same reason Sartre rejects the
existence of a God and moves that "man

The conflicting image of the self has been largely argued from the beginnings of ancient civilizations up into today's society. The self or essence of
humanity has been viewed in many different lights ranging from immaterial and immortal, to the idea of our existence creating our essence to the
idea of a cyborg race. Most of these ideas of the self focus primarily on the idea of a soul/essence determining the outcome of an individual, usually
through some higher being or God. Sartre's idea of Existentialism introduces a new way of thinking in terms of how we become a self. This paper
will argue for Sartre's idea of Existentialism by addressing the way in which it provides a concept of the self that has not been predetermined.
Jean–Paul Sartre was considered one of the foremost thinkers in the world of existentialism. He firmly represented the idea of atheistic existentialism,
and further described the broader term of existentialism as "existence precedes essence" (1946, 318). Sartre did account for Christian existentialists,
but focuses primarily on the atheistic view in one of his major works, Existentialism Is a Humanism. He further goes on to explain that our essence as
humans come from first existing, and from there, making choices that finally define us as a person. Sartre describes man as "...nothing else but what
he makes himself" (1946,319), and looks at importance of the choices we make. Choices, according to Sartre, give an individual their essence, but those

Jean Paul Sartre
Existentialist believe we are free, with no predestine course thru life; we make are way through life as we see fit."...individuals create their own
nature through their free choices and actions" (p.74). Let me start by saying that I disagree mostly with this believe. I do believe that humans have free
will. But I also believe that our lives are predestined.
Jean–Paul Sartre is a outspoken advocate for Existentialism he state's "We are condemned to be free... We are completely abandoned in the world with
nothing to fall back on...consequence of our absolute freedom we are absolutely responsible for all our decisions" http://faculty.ycp.edu/~dweiss
/phl224_human_nature/Sartre%20key%20elements%20of%20human%20nature.pdf. "Jean–Paul Sartre: Key Elements

Sartre Essay Existentialism
"Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything–anger, guilt, or possessions–we
cannot be free" by Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. As humans, we do not always find the will to let go of the things that doesn't serves us. Finding the
will to trust and let go of what no longer serves a purpose in life such as anxieties, fears, old emotion, and baggage can drag one down thus preventing
happiness to occur. When you let go, you make room for better things – things that are more suited for your life now. When you learn to let go, you live
with greater ease. Freewill is important to human existence and thought. Laws and guidelines are set out as a suggestion on how to lead life....show
more content...
Although there are numerous definitions as to what freedom mean based upon individual perspectives. Freedom can be defined as
_________________ People might be limited by some constraint so freewill may not be completely "free" but the thoughts about possibilities are
unlimited and the way in which people get involved in such possibilities is not an aspect that can limit freewill. In Sartre essay titled
Existentialism and Human emotion, he points out that from the moment we are brought into this world, we take on the role of responsibility for
all of our actions. It makes me think about what the term "free" truly refers when people use it. There aren't any external benefits that humans can
base the way we live. Regardless of whether someone gives you a choice or not, you still have the ability to choose. That is the one and only innate
ability any one person possesses. Sartre says, we must be accountable for our actions because it's ours and no one else's. I doubt that God would want
us to choose to take responsibility over one action over another because we think it's in our nature to do so. If life was all about handing over our
responsibilities to God or to another, wouldn't you think we would be a less motivated society, without intentions to

Sartre View on Free Will Essay
Andrew Kang
11/12/10
Philosophy of Human Nature
Sartre proposes an interesting view on free will when he says, "either man is wholly determined or else man is wholly free." This quote shows us
that Sartre believes that man is free to do what he wants. For Sartre, freedom is the most basic value, which renders possible all other values the way
our fundamental plan precedes and grounds our small choices. In that sense freedom is the source of all values. It is not logically possible to make
sense of human responsibility and notions of justice without a conception of free will. This is because it is free will that allows us as humans to choose
and make the right decisions in life. According to Sartre man is responsible...show more content...
"Sartre believes mankind cannot escape responsibility by adopting an external moral system, as this in itself is a choice that we approve, implicitly
or explicitly. He argues that, one cannot escape responsibility, as an attempt to separate one's self from their freedom of choice."(Onof) "With
freedom comes much more responsibility. Sartre feels that in bad faith however, the being is fleeing from more than just freedom, it's fleeing from
several aspects of its life, basically any type of lying. "(Solaman) "This inner anguish over moral uncertainty shows a personal feeling of responsibility
over the choices one makes throughout their life's." (Onof)
Where I stand on this topic is that all human beings are very individualistic. We have the ability to choose and act based upon our free will. We may
choose to do something that isn't always responsible or for the benefit of others ,but those are some of choices we choose to make. We are incapable
of choosing the worst thing possible for ourselves. We act upon what we feel is best for us at the moment or in the future, even though we aren't
always right. Although we are raised in a society were there are morals, norms, and rules we tend to ignore them at times and do things that are
irresponsible and immoral. As humans we perform these irresponsible or immoral acts even though we know the consequences that come with our
actions. No

Sartre
As stated by Sartre, man has the choice to make all of their decisions freely, but are still "condemned" to be free, because we were thrust upon this
earth without any choice and forced to exist. Since everyone was placed on this earth without our choosing, we still have to choose and act freely from
any type of situation we may end up in. Because of that, every choice we make and the resulting circumstance that may come with it is the result of
us being free and having those choices to make. The choice to have a choice is really the only thing we cannot choose. In his book, Sartre says, "Not
only are we condemned to be free because we did not choose to exist, but we are also condemned to be free because we are the only thing that exists that
There are no sets of ethics, morals, or eternal values that we can base our entire lives on. The phrases, "I can't" or, "I must" in regards to doing
anything since we have the ultimate choice in anything and nothing is ever truly forced upon us. Sartre believes that we should never put the
blame for anything that we do on anyone else but ourselves. Even though we may believe that the consequence of our action could be blamed on
someone other than us, it always ends up being up to us, whether we want it to or not. This specific view that Sartre has on the responsibility of
our actions being on ourselves conflicts with the Catholic philosophy. Sartre says that our reasons for picking one action over another being what
God wanted for us or that it was in someone's nature to do so are false. To him, it is our responsibility. As we live our lives and go through the
experiences that we do, we must create our own meaning. To him, that is the meaning of existence. We are the ones who are held responsible for
our destiny and how we live our lives and shape ourselves is all derived from what we make of ourselves. On a bit of a different note, Sartre does
believe that this freedom of choice that we have can be seen as somewhat of a curse. This curse is prevalent when dissecting Sartre's phrase,
"condemned to be

Life According to Sartre
"The Room" by Jean–Paul Sartre takes us on a journey through the conflict of man with the world. Eve makes the choice to sacrifice self identity to
care for her mentally ill husband Pierre. In the beginning of the book "The Wall and Other Stories" Sartre invites us to interpret the text from an
existentialist point of view. So we must understand Sartre philosophical meaning of life.
"What is the meaning of life?" Jean–Paul Sartre defines life as first accepting our own faults and strengths, to then understand that the world exists
regardless of our actions, and it is only when we actively participate and take responsibility for our place in the world do we honestly experience life.
In Sartre's autobiography The Words he explores the...show more content...
For Sartre, the moment Eve decides she will "kill Pierre", when his mind is lost to his dementia, is the most sane thing Eve does. She has been faced
with a truth, Pierre is in–sane without any possibility for recovery, and she takes that moment and makes a choice to end his suffering and hers. She is
not hiding from the choice and is taking responsibility for that action. Hence in–sanity is Pierre's life and self–identity, but Eve has another identity to
explore. Eve can't merely state I am the wife of a mentally ill husband, but I am Eve now what am I going to do. What I am I to do with this
external force and mend it with a choice of action? This is also why for Sartre close relationships are doomed to failure.
In order for love, friendship to occur your desire to please the other will undoubtedly cause a friction with your inner self. At some point you must
deny your desire for the other, or deny your humanity. Also the object in life, your choice, and the others choice must be mended harmoniously.
Otherwise, and in most cases relationships are doomed to failure. "Hell is other people" (Sartre) She is unable to leave the dark apartment; her
relation with parents, friends, and people is strained; she is no longer a part of the world.

Sartre's Philosophy Essay
Sartre's Philosophy
Sartre believed that one day man happened, or occurred, and after this anomalous event man's life took meaning. With this theory, Sartre articulated the
premise that "existence precedes essence". Through this assumption, Sartre evolves further ideas in which a human can gain a greater understanding of
human nature and responsibility.
In his theory stating that "existence precedes essence",
Sartre takes the belief that life has a meaning that far transcends our short and insignificant lives. He believed that life has no meaning unless we gave
it meaning. In the search for life, we become anguished by the affairs of life. Sartre believed that when this occurred, we pursue a fundamental project in
Those who do not act clear headed will inevitably fall into anguish; which is what is felt by those who cannot except that they come from the realm of
the etre en soi (realm of the
"being–in–itself") and therefore make attempts to deny their past. In an attempt to flee their past and the anguish that can accompany it, Sartre believed
that some will pursue a fundamental project. To do this is to act in bad faith.
In No Exit the character Garcin is a clear cut example of an individual acting in bad faith in an attempt to flee anguish. In the play, Garcin is placed
in a room to face hell with two other people, Estelle and Inez. The character Garcin is in this hell after being shot for fleeing his country after the
breakout of war. Prior to the war, Garcin was the editor of a pacifist newspaper. When he defied war, he was shot. Although he was defiant he chooses
to think of himself as a hero and a martyr.
As the story evolves, the character Inez forces Garcin to admit that he is not a hero, and that he did in fact, act cowardly.
Garcin then pursues a fundamental project to flee the anguish that accompanies being labeled a coward. He tries to convince
Estelle that he is not a coward. In doing so, Garcin feels that the words he hears spoken of him down from earth will be hushed, and he will be the
hero he wishes to be. This is exemplary of
Sartre's notion that when faced with

Sartre No Exit Essay

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