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Sartre's
existentialism faces the evil in human existence and
sees that humans are responsible for it. He doubts man can make
moral progress, yet he embraces the possibilities for human
life.
Mankind
is radically free and responsible. In every moment
we choose ourselves; beyond this, we find no instructions for
our lives. No external authority gives life meaning, so Sartre's
existentialism is boldly atheistic.
For
most objects, "essence precedes their existence."
But humans must continually create what they are in every moment;
human existence precedes essence.
"Existence"
hides behind the way we see and talk about it. Conscious life
is a type of "Nothingness"; we determine what we now
are by the way we project the "not yet" of the future
(we are not what we are, and we are what we are
not.) Anguish before the future is one way we experience
our radical freedom. We're not determined by outside forces;
we constantly choose and re-choose ourselves with no assurance
that we have a continuing identity or power. So we set up determinisms
to ease our minds.
An
unstable and unpredictable human condition afflicts all human
relations. We can't escape our involvement with others; conflict
is inevitable. Death is the ultimate limit; the end of consciousness
is the end of meaning.
(Also see French
Existentialism: Sartre & Simone de Beauvoir.)
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