The Philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre

And here we see Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century. He embodied the Existentialist movement, which argued that there is no authority or meaning in existence outside of what we make of it. Whether we accept or reject this idea, or find it hopeful or depressing, Sartre’s philosophy admirably tackles the problems of creating a kinder world when there is also no such thing as objective morality. His central questions hit home for us today: what constitutes a meaningful life? How can we resist tyranny and work to bring freedom for others? .

Sartre was heavily influenced by the Nazi occupation of his French homeland. Fascism obviously promoted an acceptance of external authority while demolishing the human rights of “out groups” with exquisite cruelty. Rejecting the right of both Gods and Govenments to dictate morality, Sartre instead emphasized living a life of authenticity, which upheld taking responsibility for one’s conscious choices. To him, living in bad faith, or lying to oneself, was the worst sin, and this could mean stifling the freedom of oneself or others.

Existentialism frequently pronounces that humans are “condemned to be free,” which has a depressing verb choice but has important implications. It means that one can’t take an easy way out of making one’s own moral choices by defaulting to external authority. For Sartre, this also implied that a life of authenticity would be possible only by being consistent in applying freedom. As he wrote, “I cannot make liberty my aim unless I make that of others equally my aim.”