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Katherine Devine
Dr. Durmus
PL 265-52
27 October 2016
Individual freedom and the ability to create oneself is the basis of which existentialism is
founded upon. While it maintains beliefs aimed at the betterment of an individual who seeks
meaning and value within their life, existentialism still remains the subject of criticism due to the
belief that its a philosophy of pessimism, inaction, and subjectivity. As a philosophy so focused
on free will, personal choice, and individual judgment, I recognize subjectivity as the most valid
subjective nature, I argue that the criticism is valid because existentialism, by its very definition,
is subjective. A philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice, where
each individual arbitrarily defines their own meaning in life can be nothing but subjective.
This subjectivity critique is mainly grounded in the existentialist non-belief in a god. For
many people, the belief in a god instills values within them and provides the guidelines necessary
to lead a moral life on the path towards salvation. Eliminating the possibility of a god
consequently eliminates the moral, objective guidelines that drive many individuals daily
actions. The absence of an Almighty power and divine being to provide moral values supports
Sartre focuses largely on the concept of responsibility and the burden freedom bears on
and that one can experience anguish and anxiety through making the wrong decision. He does
not believe a God is necessary to guide ethical behavior as he argues carrying the burden of
responsibility is what drives people to make the right decision. Beauvoir holds a similar belief in
the power of responsibility to drive behavior by saying, He bears the responsibility for a world
which is not the work of a strange power, but of himself, where his defeats are inscribed, and his
victories, as well (Beauvoir 15). However, I would argue that these individuals experience
anguish because there is no measuring stick for them to base their actions. It becomes extremely
challenging to make a decision when one has no guidelines to refer to, resulting in the stress of
whether the right decision was made. Furthermore, having set principles eliminates anxiety
because these principles reaffirm that an individual is doing the right thing.
Sartres argument that the feeling of extreme responsibility forces individuals to deeply
consider their actions to ensure the best decision is made reveals a potential inconsistency within
his beliefs. If he is arguing that people ultimately do whats best, then that must mean theres
something born within us that drives these decisions. Before even knowing anything about right
or wrong, one would know innately that its wrong to harm or murder someone. This implies that
theres some sort of moral compass within our soul. If there are no absolute guidelines, how
could one ever know what is right if theyre not born with some innate knowledge? Eliminating
the possibility of an external source to set values, an individual must be acting upon innate
values, which directly contradicts Sartres belief that humans are born without an essence.
Shown in his comparison of art to ethics, he continually stresses the importance of creating
oneself, but how does an individual know whether what he/she is creating is productive or has
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any worth? Absent any measuring stick or established objectives, an individual is left to their
As both Sartre and Beauvoir focus on the notion free will, many objectors argue this
suggests one is able to do whatever they desire. However, both Sartre and Beauvoir counter this
notion by claiming that individuals are aware that their actions affect all of mankind. Sartre
states, and if I in any way assume responsibility for a choice which, in involving myself, also
involves mankind, this has nothing to do with caprice, even if no a priori value determines my
choice (Sartre 32). Ultimately, he believes that people realize their actions can affect others and
this understanding drives them to make good decisions. However, for him to say ones actions
have an impact on others assumes that he and the others have some shared means of determining
if actions have a positive or negative impact. This would be in conflict with Sartre and
Beauvoirs belief that there are no set principles in life that guide mankind.
and that proper actions are relative to the situation. However, if theres no absolute, how can you
have anything but subjectivity? Under Sartre and Beauvoirs philosophy, any law or guideline
ever created must have been created by man and not a Supreme Being. Furthermore, at some
point, someone had to be subjective to come up with that given guideline. For example, if not
murdering is not an absolute truth, then someone had to be subjective to come up with that
guideline. If you dont believe there is an external source to create absolute truths, then all things
right and wrong had to be created subjectively by a man to determine what is truth or not. In
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saying this, better and worse judgments must be based on subjective views if you dont have
absolute truth. This further supports the criticism that philosophy is subjective in nature.
Sartre and Beauvoir strongly believe individuals are born as clean states and are free to
create themselves. With no Supreme Being to serve as a guide, there are no absolutes in life and
the argument on. It is evident that Sartre and Beauvoir make numerous different claims, but I
dont believe they are ever able to fully substantiate them and go around in circles contradicting
themselves, as a result. They both urge individuals to find their own value in life through
demonstrating free will, but the problem lies in not knowing what is truly right and of value
without any type of guideline to serve as affirmation. Absent a measuring stick, individuals are
left to resort to instinct and intuition, which are at the core of subjectivity.
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Works Cited
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism and Human Emotions. Philosophical Library, Inc, 1957.