Jean-Paul Sartre was born in 1905, in Paris. He was to become one of the most famous writers and philosophers of the twentieth century, eventually declining the Nobel Prize for literature in 1964. His philosophy and writings on existentialism provoked strong themes of human freedom and the corresponding angst that comes with the responsibility of being free. Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy attracted many adherents in philosophy and the arts and he notably had a relationship with second-wave feminist, Simone de Beauvoir. In this article, we look at some of his most significant contributions to existential philosophy found throughout his various writings.
Jean-Paul Sartre: Being-in-itself and Being-for-itself
For Sartre, there are philosophically significant differences between the states of being between things in the world and people. Things that are not conscious, such as rocks, chairs, or can-openers, are what he referred to as being-in-itself. A can-opener is defined by what it does (opens cans) which defines what it is. No matter how you use a can-opener, its defining quality (i.e., essence) is that it is an object that opens cans. A rock, similarly, is a rock no matter what you do to it. These types of objects are locked into their essence and cannot change it.
