Jean Paul Sartre Existentialism Essay

“The essential consequence of our earlier remarks is that man being condemned to be free carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders’ he is responsible for the world and for himself as a way of being.” Jean- Paul Sartre was a nineteenth century philosopher whose philosophy is based on existentialism. The basic concept of existentialism is that humans are free and are responsible for their own actions. According to Sartre, the primary condition of human existence and the concept that serves as a basis or foundation for everything is that they are free. In his idea of existentialism, we are free to make choices as well as we and only ourselves give purpose to our lives. Sartre’s principle of existence precedes essence denies the notion of humans having human nature. When we are born, we first existence, and upon living our lives and experiencing the world, we come to know ourselves and learn about who we are and what we are to do.
Sartre does not agree with the idea that human beings have a sole purpose in life and must fulfill and is obligated to perform …show more content…
Although he disagrees with people being obligated to perform one task and be blind to others, or that we must stick to one profession and ignore everything else, we are obligated and have a duty to make choices, be responsible for ourselves and the world, and find meaning and purpose to our lives. Eliminating the God from humanity, allows people to be free or have their purpose derived from someone else. We choose to be who we are and do things we want to do. We have a choice to be someone we are not. Sartre even says, “there is no common measure between who you are and who you want to be”. However, we have a duty to be who we are and cannot be anyone else. We cannot feel what others feel nor can we think or experience things in the same way as someone else. We have a duty to choose who we want to be for ourselves and for the