Having obtained a Ph.D in philosophy at the prestigious Grandes Ecoles - the apotheosis for all great French students, thinkers and intellectuals, Sartre began to clarify and force through his very own existentialist theory.

Borrowing the premise first mooted by Soren Kierkegaard, Sartre argued that “It is up to the individual to choose they life that they think is best.” This Sartre affirmed was the central theme of all existentialist philosophy; the notion that existence precedes essence.

Sartre’s Existentialism Theory

Sartre maintained that man (and woman) is first born without a purpose or definition in the world, and so must, as a reaction to experience, define the meaning of his life. Hence, it is up to the individual to choose the life they think is best as Sartre himself said.

Sartre also believed that there is no God, nor a designer to give man a purpose in life. However, the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle would argue against this.

Aristotle’s Telos Theory affirms that man is created to fulfil some purpose or goal, and that fulfilment of a life consists in striving to achieving that goal.

Sartre’s Views On God

Jean-Paul Sartre was an atheist. According to Sartre, a belief in God can only ever be a personal choice, which, furthermore, can and should never be forced upon another person.

Abiding by the maxim that it is up to the individual to choose the life that they think best, Sartre stresses that a person must fathom and interpret God themselves. For this to happen said Sartre, man is faced with a choice at every turn.

Sartre believed that this allows for man to be in charge of his own destiny. However, Sartre failed to address the idea that to negate the existence of God is to assume that man is left alone without divine help or guidance.

For example, French Occasionalist Theorist, Nicolas Malebranche, sought to demonstrate the active role of God in every aspect of the world. Malebranche argued that whenever we think we are doing something, God is really doing it for us. This was known as Occasionalism, or Causation Theory.

In perhaps his most important book, Being and Nothingness, Sartre built on Kierkegaard. In emphasizing the power of choice and existence, Sartre’s existentialist philosophy sought to pave the way for personal freedom, as well as the fact that man must define his own meaning of life, via his actions.

Sources: Sartre, J.P. (1966), "Existentialism Is a Humanism." Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Ed. Walter Kaufman, (Cleveland and New York: Meridian Books).

Sartre, J. P. (1956), Being and Nothingness, (Trans. Hazel Barnes).

Stokes, P. (2002), Philosophy: 100 Essential Thinkers, (Arcturus Publishing Limited).

See also: Carl Jung Philosophy

Author: By Sean O’Grady, Economics Editor
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