Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre was a Parisian who existed from 1905-1980. His early studies of phenomenology led him to develop an existential view known as forlornness. He also held steadfast in his conviction that with freedom man has tremendous responsibility.

The term Sartre famously coined, forlornness, means that man is alone in his existence. He believes that there is no God for which to seek moral guidance and certainty; we are free in the truest sense (that we control our lives and create our future). This does not allow for one to martyr science or philosophy, however. To do so is just a means to the same end reached by religion. Sartrean "Free Will" is the polar opposite of determinism, which implicates that our actions are all the result of an impetus beyond our control down to the minutest of operations. Such freedom from a societal standpoint means that at all times one has control over their actions; the advancement or regression of life is the result of situations imposed by your own free will. Sartre summarizes our lack of excuses as being "condemned to be free".

Forlornness is a rather depressing concept for some, because it denies all the benefits of having a God to worship. Uncertainty about afterlife will deter many because they believe it makes existence shallow and rather meaningless. Sartre's philosophy, keeping with the existential theme, counters such thoughts in that it focuses one to abandon such thoughts and focus on what we know is tangible rather than abstract. In order to do this one must accept the burden that free will places on you. As the old saying goes, "with great power comes great responsibility", and Sartre warns against this by saying "Ð'...I am involving all humanity in monogamy and not merely myself. Therefore, I am responsible for myself and for everyone else. I am creating a certain image of man of my own choosing. In choosing myself, I choose man." This means that one person's actions have the power to positively or negatively contribute to a herd mentality. Lie Zi accurately summed this up by saying "Be careful with your words, for someone will agree with them. Be careful with your conduct, for someone will imitate it.