Humans exist in the world as free perceiving beings with others. At all times an individual experiences the world with other free individuals and while one individual cannot directly influence the freedom of the other, it is through the actions of oneself and others that create the situations in which one finds themself. Jean-Paul Sartre in his lecture Existentialism is a Humanism defines existentialism as a philosophy where “existence precedes essence” and one is free to act but must face the consequences of their actions wholly for himself and others. It is this freedom of choice that sets the conditions and situations that one might find themselves in. Simone de Beauvoir in Pyrrhus and Cinéas asserts that the freedoms of others often conflict
…show more content…
Man is free because there is not any universal meaning that can be applied to life and it is up to man himself to determine his own meaning. The situation he finds himself in is created not only by his actions but by the actions of others. While others and their actions appear as static, others experience life in the same transcendent future oriented way that the individual does. A problem that arises in interacting with others is that because one can only experience others and their actions in the present rather than how they experience themselves transcendently, one is unable to directly affect the freedom of others. One cannot transcend what is already transcending, one can only affect the situation in which they and the others find themselves in. Because of this, what people intend to do in their actions is not often what they actually do. According to both Sartre and Beauvoir, it is not the intention that matters when one acts but rather the actual action. So while I may intend to improve another’s situation, if my action does not actually improve their situation then I am actually making it worse. The problem is that as an individual one cannot know how another will interpret an action that is performed. One cannot truly know what another wants of their actions so affecting others in the way that they need or want to be effective becomes a challenging task especially considering Beauvoir’s conclusion that every action transcends its end and is just another
Man is free because there is not any universal meaning that can be applied to life and it is up to man himself to determine his own meaning. The situation he finds himself in is created not only by his actions but by the actions of others. While others and their actions appear as static, others experience life in the same transcendent future oriented way that the individual does. A problem that arises in interacting with others is that because one can only experience others and their actions in the present rather than how they experience themselves transcendently, one is unable to directly affect the freedom of others. One cannot transcend what is already transcending, one can only affect the situation in which they and the others find themselves in. Because of this, what people intend to do in their actions is not often what they actually do. According to both Sartre and Beauvoir, it is not the intention that matters when one acts but rather the actual action. So while I may intend to improve another’s situation, if my action does not actually improve their situation then I am actually making it worse. The problem is that as an individual one cannot know how another will interpret an action that is performed. One cannot truly know what another wants of their actions so affecting others in the way that they need or want to be effective becomes a challenging task especially considering Beauvoir’s conclusion that every action transcends its end and is just another