Essay On Jean Paul Sartre Existentialism

Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism is inadequate due to its failure to sufficiently address and incorporate one’s visible identity as a legitimate limitation to human agency.

First, let us examine the historical context from which existentialism is coming from, the three main existential principles, and finally, examine the absence of visible identity and race in Sartre’s argument entirely, and synthesize what it would mean to include it.
In ancient Greece, Plato and Aristotle believed that everything had an essence. An essence is a certain set of core properties that are necessary, or essential for a thing to be what it is. If that property were missing, then that thing would be an entirely different thing. For example, in the case of a knife, it is irrelevant the type of material that the handle is make out of, however if it were to lack the blade component, then it would cease to be a knife entirely – it is the essential property of the knife because it gives the knife its defining function. Plato and Aristotle believed that everything including human beings, had an essence and believed …show more content…
If the world is not determined, then there is no universal system of ethics and morals. If there are no universal system of ethics and morals, then it means that one’s actions determines their own system of ethical and moral values. Thus, one is forced to choose their own path, making decisions for oneself, without an appeal to a false authority. This choice, no matter what, was the only true choice, provided it was made authentically, because it was determined to be the values one chose to accept. Thus, the world can have meaning but only if you chose to assign it. The implication here, is that one’s actions and therefore one’s own moral code is the “right” one, the one that every person should follow. Although that is not to say that one can or should force their will upon