The Human person as a result of being-for-others: a critical anthropological approach to the perspective of Jean Paul Sartre, Tesis de Antropología

¡Descarga The Human person as a result of being-for-others: a critical anthropological approach to the perspective of Jean Paul Sartre y más Tesis en PDF de Antropología solo en Docsity! 1 St. Bernard’s School of Theology & Ministry The Human person as a result of being-for-others: a critical anthropological approach to the perspective of Jean Paul Sartre By Daniel Vallejo Rios Master of Arts in Philosophy 2 Introduction During the passing of the history, certain relevant events were transforming, and this can certainly apply to the understanding of a human person. In the ancient’s world, the cosmocentric vision of the earth helped us to recognize in ourselves the capability of evaluating daily events. Scholastic era, on the other hand, provided a theocentric idea, which focuses on the essence which is creating everything. Lastly, Modern age unlocks the seals of anthropocentric view, and focus on the relation of men with the presence of other beings. Hence, a critical approach to the idea of a human person from the perspective of Jean-Paul Sartre starts to get attractive in the context of polarization after the Second World War, where questions without answers emerge. The existentialist vision of the world is not sufficient to comprehend our relationships with others. Therefore, we will embark on a journey for Sartre’s existentialist view to understanding how is Sartre’s embracing the concept of human beings.? Therefore, we ask some question: Which factors are essential in the understanding of human beings as existence before essence? What is nothingness? and its curative effect in existentialism. Finally, those questions will help us demonstrate what the vision of a human being is in the existentialism, Sartre’s philosophy as the principal exponent of this view. Construction of human being from the remains Jean-Paul Sartre was a significant French philosopher who lived between 1905-1980. His life takes place in a difficult period of humanity, humanity, during the First and Second World War. These events were not irrelevant for all the people who were alive during this major decadence of humanity. The major example of this is found in his book the “Nausée” from 1938, where he embodies the pain of men in a hostile environment where denaturalization and 5 by nothing in the time, our existence is over the indeterminate essence. In sum, this second consequence resides in the construction of the anthropological vision of “man” as a being who is determinate in order to the collective consciousness of responsibility to stay in the world. Third, the statement “he is choosing for all men” reference the general effect of every action, meaning that the anthropological understanding of man in the existentialist philosophy implies a process of comprehension where each of the individuals is not determined to be something specific. They are constructing their own essence according to experiences that they lived in the hostile environment of the world. For this reason, we can say as Wilfer Yepes2 “El prójimo es, en este plano, un objeto del mundo que se deja definer por el mundo3” (Yepes Muñoz 2014) In conclusion, these three aspects are constructing an ethical understanding of existentialism. It means. People are not determinate to be something in the world for any force, divinity or heavenly power, every human is constructing their essences in the journey of the world because the essence is this context, it is connecting with the idea of being-for-others than spiritual or metaphysical influences or determinations. The human being an existence over essence The difference between existentialist and other philosophical point of view at the time resides in the understanding of “man” from nothingness. Arne Naess4, commenting on the famous sentence “Existence precedes essence” from Jean-Paul Sartre, says: “His essence is what he makes 2 Doctoral Student of Philosophy at the Pontifical Bolivarian University, Colombia. His researches focus on French Philosophy of the XX century and the relationship between philosophy and Literature. 3 A fellow(neighbor) in this plane is an object of the world that is defined by the world. In Spanish is not a distinction between the word fellow and neighbor, for this reason I will keep both words to be true to the text. 4 He was a Norwegian philosopher who coined the term “deep ecology”, he was professor at University of Oslo and the only professor of philosophy in his country during 1950s. 6 of himself, and what he makes of himself is no more than the sum total of his past, his biography, in fact.” (Naess 1968). The construction of the human being is not based on an another principle different than existence itself because the essence it’s not something previous which human beings are acquiring naturally by the act to be a man. Clearly, the anthropology of existentialist philosophy is not based in other things than the community because men are not destinated to be something specific, according to this perspective, but man is social constructions who is seeking his main reason for living in a painful experience of existence. At this point, Jean-Paul Sartre develops a concept to describe this solitude of being in this world, and this concept is called nausea. Again, Norman N. Greene helps us to illustrate this concept, and he says: “The importance of this concept of nausea for Sartre is as a revelation of the fact that simple existence is intolerable and as such demands justification.” (Greene 1963) This concept of nausea is essential in the construction of the collective consciousness of human beings. In other words, every selection of each one of the members is affecting the whole, because the society is not a single group of people together—in existentialist philosophy—a community is a call to seek the best ways to be open to experience and live this painful experience that we call life. This pain of being in a hostile environment where human beings are being abandoned in the vicissitudes of life is creating in us a responsibility. But what is responsibility? Greene says: “rightness of a decision which can serve as its justification and that the individual must bear the weight of his freedom in solitude.” (Greene 1963) In fact, society is not a construction because everyone wants to go to the same end; in existentialism, society is the result of personal decision where human reality or human condition is transforming to a human nature in a permanent stage of bad faith. 7 What is bad faith? Gila J. Hayim5 gives us a concrete explanation in the context of existentialist philosophy and Jean-Paul Sartre: “The experience and exercise of freedom and choice is an experience of responsibility which can therefore entail anguish.” (Hayim 1980) Another essential element emerges from bad faith, this element will be the anguish as the primary motivation to live. The anthropological vision of existentialism resides in the anguish which places us in the experience where we cannot comprehend our existence, Rendering us incapable to understand our Existence, directing us to justify our actions into the continuous introspection to distinguish the man-in-the-society from the man-in-the-world. These two manners of being in the world are transforming the collective and individual vision of beings in live experiences. To comprehend better these two ideas, we will use the example of a man buying a new truck. Example number one: a man-in-the-society will buy a car thinking about the implications of driving a vehicle in a highway where everyone has a different understanding of the signs, but they agree to never crash into each other. Example number two: A Man-in-the-world is considering, before buying the car, a hostility, unconsciousness, and lack of responsibility is being an important reason never to buy a car. However, in this perspective, it’s not only about other drivers, this subject will assume to the possibility that streets are not prepared to have so many drivers. Clearly, both examples are manifesting anguish and freedom at the same time. This anguish, which is born between this dualistic mode helping us to understand the conception of Being-for-others as the mode of being in the world, per excellence in existentialistic philosophy. We can define these modes in two ways “First, I am aware of my own bodily existence as something which is known to other people. Secondly, I am aware of the bodies of other people, 5 Professor Emerita of Sociology at University of Brandeis, her research focus on Social psychology of culture and identity transformations, especially in relation to our transitional experience in the emergent network society. 10 consciences and abolish the possibility to express this anguish because everything is acceptable. Finally, he proposes a happy humanism as a dangerous idea because individuals hate one another, but it loves men as a society. (Sartre 2007) So, the anthropological vision of existentialism assumes nothingness as the only way of human beings. Regardless of a natural inclination to stay alive, this philosophical propound demand the isolated live as the model to stay apart and free to make a decision in order to define the essence of every action. Because this essence is not predeterminate by another being more than themselves. But this journey is determinizing the essence, and the man is experiencing solitude, because the supremacy of the collective is acting in a two ways street. First, immersing human beings in the absolute fear who abolish the possibility to make decisions. Second, directing men through anguish to a state of confusion where nothingness eliminate responsibility and transformed men as a social construction. Conclusion The existentialistic philosophy and Jean-Paul Sartre, as its most remarkable supporter, are the construction of the idea of a human being as an indeterminate being. This indetermination is directing them to lose his individual character, and this call to be responsible without a moral understanding of human beings is creating a scrupulous journey to be free is considering a man as an end-itself and not as part of human construction. For this reason, Jean-Paul Sartre is considering the human being as the social construct where existence is predominating over the essence. This means no other person in the world can influence men in their social organization because they became unauthentic beings. Also, the social constructions and the abolishment of supreme or heavenly powers as a sign of human authenticity 11 are the starting point to become no ethical in the judgments. All the time, the things that are good for the majority are not necessarily good for the majority are the best for the individual. In conclusion, “existentialism is humanism because it reminds people that there is no other legislator apart from humans and that in the situations of abandonment, humans must look for themselves beyond their present selves” (Kakkori 2010). In fact, existentialistic philosophy is insufficient to direct men to live in a better world because it is abolishing the spiritual dimension of the human being, and abandonment them to self-determination knowing our natural inclination to have comfort even it is necessary to deny value to others. 12 Works Cited Greene, Norman N. Jean-Paul Sartre The Existentialist Ethic. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1963. Gyllenhammer, Paul. "Sartre and Heidegger on Social Deformation and the Anthropocene." Sartre Studies International, 2018: 25-44. Hayim, Gila J. The Existential Sociology of Jean-Paul Sartre. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1980. Kakkori, Leena & Huttune, Rauno. "The Sartre-Heidegger controversy on humanism and the concept of Man in education." In Educational Philosophy and theory , 1-15. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing , 2010. Naess, Arne. Four Modern Philosophers. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1968. Sartre, Paul Jean. Existentialism is a Humanism. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2007. Warnock, Mary. The Philosophy of Sartre. London: Hutchinson University Library, 1966. Yepes Muñoz, Wilfer Alexis. "La comunicación incomunicable: a propósito de las relaciones con el otro en el ser y la nada de Jean Paul Sartre." Revista Lasallista de Investigacion, 2014: 110-122.