Existentialism in two plays of Jean-Paul Sartre

Philosophy that
makes an
authentically human
life possible in a
meaningless and
absurd world

Man must create

his own essence: it
Search of the
is in throwing
condition of man,
himself into the
the state of being
world, suffering
free, and man's
there, struggling
always using his
there, that he
freedom
gradually defines
himself. Existentialism

Is a philosophical
thought that deals
Existence is closely with the conditions
related to freedom of existence of the
in the sense of an individual person
active engagement and their emotions,
in the world. actions,
responsibilities, and
thoughts.
Existensialism and Humanism

Divides the things that exist into three kinds:

• 1. human beings- existence preceds essence

2. artifacts - Essence preceds existence
3. naturally occurring objects - Existence and essence coincide

Sartre, like other philosophers of existence, had the idea “existence precedes essence”
which meant for him that all existing things in the universe are meaningless

Only through our consciousness they have meaning, which means that it is we who create
meaning.

“anguish”, “abandonment”, and “despair” are the terms that commonly used by
existentialist thinkers
• Anguish: A man who commits himself, a man who realizes that he is not only the individual that he chooses to be
• Abandonment: It is we ourselves who decide who are we to be
• Despair: We must limit ourselves to reckoning only with those things that depend on our will, or on the set of
probabilities that enable action. Existentialist mean to say that God does not exist and that it necessary to
draw the consequences of his absence right to the end.
 it labels the attempt to
deny the basic structure
of human being.

"Bad Faith"

the way an individual sees we deny this by

the world is determined pretending that our
by that individual's characters are fixed and
character. unchangeable
 Sartre thinks there are fundamentally two manners of “being”

Being-for-itself Being-in-itself

Is a subjective thing Is an objective thing

Is the kind of being that pertains to one’s Manner in which the world external to one’s
own existence. own reality exists.

Entails the existence of consciousness, and Is free and entails a kind of lack or
consciousness of itself nothingness

Have absolute freedom Cannot be related to absolute freedom

Have capability to make a decision Does not have capability to make a decision or
judge itself.
 In existentialism
drama, the
dramatist
examines the
metaphysical life
of man and
protests against
it; existence
absolute
becomes the Human freedom
freedom and source of his is very
being-for- rebellion. important
itself are very
according to
related to each existentialism.
other.

EXISTENTIALISM Sartre has

Moral values
IN TWO PLAYS OF got the idea
and sins people
commit can rule JEAN-PAUL that people
people’s lives SARTRE have the
and behaviors ability to
but they create their
prevent people own world
from absolute
through
freedom.
freedom.
Sartre’s
Religious opinion is that
values do not people are
have a chance free to make
to control a choice and
human to act
behaviors. according to
that choice.
 Themes in work that showed by Sartre, as an existentialist

1. Absurdity:
- Life is absurd. It makes no sense and has no meaning or ultimate purpose.
- But human beings need it to make sense, to have meaning and purpose.
2. Rejection of meaning-giving narratives.
- existentialists repeatedly make the point that when philosophy, religion, or science tries to make sense of it, the
attempts always fail.
3. Allenation
- the feeling that you are a stranger in your own life, a stranger in the world.
4. Anxiety
- the feeling of unease you get when you start to recognize that life is absurd.
5. Forlornness
- the feeling of loneliness you get when you realize that no one can help you make sense of your existence.
6. Responsibility
- everybody bears responsibility for making their lives through it.
7. Authenticity
- people in a way that’s in tune with the truth of who they are as human beings and the world they live in.
8. Individuality
- An important of developing an authentic and satisfying life is individuality.
9. Passion/Engagement
- being passionate or engaged is another important aspect of living an authentic life.
10. Death
- is the ultimate context for all human actions and an important source of the absurdity of life.