Existentialism and Sartre's theory

Existentialism and Ed Dante

Jean Paul Sartre's philosophy of existentialism was radically different from previous systems of morality that attempted to determine which actions were inherently morally right and wrong. Sartre instead suggested that human beings are free, within the framework of the cosmic order, to do as they wished. This did not mean, however, that people could simply do what they wanted without consequences. Rather, it meant that their actions created those consequences -- their character and their fate. "The Traditional View (which Sartre argues against)" of morality is that "essence precedes action" (Banach 2006). A bad character, in other words, means that a human being will do bad things. In this traditional view 'Ed Dante' is a bad and immoral person, or at very least a weak and corruptible person, and because of his character he does unethical things.

But Sartre believed there was no inherent essence, good or bad to a person. However, the actions of the person created the person's character. According to Dante, he passively 'fell into' writing term papers. Sartre, however, would state that this is impossible. Dante made a conscious choice to select his line of work, rejecting other paths. Rather than seeing human options as limited, Sartre viewed such thinking as 'if I don't make money by any means possible, I can't afford to live and pay off my student loans' as socially-conditioned thinking. A true existentialist ignores such socially-determined constraints. Although Dante regards himself as free, in casting off the morality of conventional academic society in terms of how he makes his living, his prioritization on making money over making art through his writing is actually a reflection of how much he has internalized cultural stereotypes of the right way to live. Dante is abdicating his responsibility as a human being to be free and has instead elected to live a life of anguish. The reasons that human beings feel anxiety and misery is because "we are faced with the lack of any external source of value and determination. We are faced with the responsibility of choosing our own nature and values" (Banach 2006). Dante has made his choice, and in his case he has chosen to be a hack, writing thousands of words for other people, rather than seeking his authentic self and writing the novel he initially aspired to complete before be became a writer-for-hire.

Of course, Dante might argue that he had no choice. No one was taking his work seriously. But Sartre would counter that "even though all these factors may be determined, [such as our environment, financial constraints, and the behavior of others] we are more than simply these things. Our real self lies beyond the reach of external determination in virtue of its absolute individuality" (Banach 2006). To be fully realized as a human being means to see ourselves existing outside of those constraints, and to act as if they did not matter. Sartre would tell Dante to stop writing papers as a hired gun, complete that novel, and lead a fully-realized life as a writer.

Sartre, despite his emphasis on freedom, was a passionate believer in the responsibility of human beings to other human beings. "We must act as any free agent would act, hence we must act as we would like other people to act...we must desire the freedom of other people. To treat another person merely as an object for my use is to make an object of myself. To be free I must respect the freedom of others" (Banach 2006). Dante clearly does not wish his actions to be a model for others. Presumably, when dealing with others he wants them to be honest about their identities and authentic selves. By treating clients and himself as objects he denies this responsibility.