Being and Nothingness

Jean-Paul Sartre was a French Philosopher, novelist and literary critic. He was born on the 21st of June, 1905. During his life, he was one of the important figures in the philosophy of existentialism and also one of the prominent individuals in the 20th century French philosophy and Marxism. Existentialism is a 20th century philosophy which is basically centred on the analysis of existence, freedom and choice. It is the understanding that humans define their purpose in life and try to make…

schizoid way of being-in-the-world to a psychotic way of being in-the-world” (17). He gives his definition of a “schizoid” patient as an “individual whose experience is split” (17). He struggles in connecting with patients from a humanistic level. Laing does not know how to set himself on the same level as some patients. Patients, in Freudian terms, become separated from you and I and Laing does not like this. He ponders ways to maintain that interaction between two human beings. Laing is…

a number of books, including the highly influential Being and Nothingness, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964, though he turned it down. Like the work of most other philosophers, Sartre’s contribution to the discipline is difficult to condense, if one must truly do justice to it in its entirety. In his book Being and Nothingness (1943), Sartre created a distinction between two states of being; beings in-themselves and beings-for-themselves. Inanimate objects or entities that…

struggling just as before. Hughes asked specific questions and is able to create images in the readers head to further the understanding of “What happens to a dream deferred?” (1). Perhaps the dreams of the African American community wither away into nothingness; or maybe, dreams just reseed waiting for the moment to resurface and be achieved. The question “Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?” (2-3), causes the reader…

but fit perfectly. According to the text, Ex nihilo means from nothingness or from a spirit. This means the creator brings the creation into being through thought, speech, breath, dream, laughter, etc. My creation myth included two factors of this type of myth creation. First, there was nothing but bright, white light from which the shadow form just appeared from nothingness. Secondly, the shadows despondency and thoughts of being lonely sparks an idea in him to create the spheres for…

factor in knowing. It is a living process that is self-fulfilling and self-actualizing, all felt within oneself. Various sensations and experiences can lead a person, or any object in general, to become something else. This is what allows the object or being to be knowledgeable in the world and is a change that is necessary for growth. A world that does not ever sense or experience anything is one that will never be aware of the purpose of its own existence. The idea…

understanding of the context surrounding the content. In this essay, all of these will be examined meticulously with the aid of examples, namely ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘Lady Windermere 's Fan’. These two dramatic texts lend themselves both to being read and being performed and it is through this that there is a need to assess which is better; in terms of understanding the texts and their underlying meanings set about by the authors. From productions we are able to grasp the complexity of the…

I knew that was not what the piece about. I believe that John Cage's 4 "33" is about silence and possibly time. The first value that I think is significant to the composition is silence. When I think of the word silence, nothingness comes to mind. What I mean by nothingness is no noise; you hear not one person or any other kind noise around you.…

be heard. I could feel the intensifying heat, but I was numb to the imminent burns; I was numb to everything. The sky began to blacken, as did my perception. I embraced the gradual darkness with open arms; it replaced the anguish with soothing nothingness. I awoke to barrenness and smoky tendrils idly floating away into the sky above. Everything within sight was charred and blackened. I only had a vague recollection of the destruction that occurred the night before, as if a fragment of my lucid…

those things that pops into your head whenever you get comfortable, possibly as a subconscious motivational tool. The ratios one hundred percent to zero. Everybody dies. And so, the question is, is that it? What happens to you after you die? Human beings are the only animals on earth who understand they will one day die. I do believe there is life after death due to believing in Christianity, Resurrection, Reincarnation and then Paranormal phenomena. The ideas that make the least amount of sense…