Being and Nothingness: Sartre's Existentialist Philosophy - Essay Sample

Introduction

Jean-Paul Sartre is one of the famous philosophers who set a significant tone on intellectual life through various modes of existentialist philosophies. He introduced two concepts in hos philosophies, that is Being and Nothingness known as one his most significant work in phenomenological ontology. Being and Nothingness examines the conscious of being. Sartre defines Being and Nothingness from two perspectives that are being-in-itself (unconscious being), being-for-itself (conscious being), and being for others (Sartre, 2015). A conscious person is more rigid and cannot change; an individual remains unaware of oneself.

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On the other hand, conscious being is aware of the environment; however, it is also incomplete; according to Sartre, these are what defines humans (Trigg, 2017). Being and Nothingness, therefore, remains one of the most comprehensive philosophies of Sartre. The two terms being and Nothingness are different, but they are related when it comes to the concept of consciousness. Being refers to the state of existence, he distinguishes this term as being-in-itself and being-for-itself. He emphasizes that all cases that may be termed as consciousness are conscious of something, Sartre uses this as an ontological proof of consciousness. That consciousness can only be said when something is conscious about something other than itself. This paper, therefore, explains various types of Sartre's phenomenological ontology and the role of the look in our relationships.

Being-in-Itself

Being in itself is an entirely realistic state and self-contained of objects. According to Sartre, being in itself contrasts directly to the self-being of an individual, he describes this relationship as a combination of tension and vacillation (Sartre, 2015). Being in itself means objects found in the external world; it is a mode of existence that is unconscious. Therefore it is neither passive nor active and possesses no potentiality for any form of transience. Being in itself is pertinent to something inanimate but not to a man who, according to Sartre, must make a specific choice. He identifies humans based on this model to be having a problem of existence because of the desire to reach the state of being in itself. According to this model, humans attempt to take full control over their desires and attain the purpose of all existence (Dixon, 2017). Sartre uses an example of a waiter who thinks of himself (being in itself) as a portrayal of his function at work. According to Sartre, this is impossible because he cannot be a waiter since an inkstand is an inkstand (Dixon, 2017). He is just a man, i.e., being for itself, a person who happens to be working as a waiter without any essence of nature, he is continuously reinventing himself.

Being-For-Itself

Being for itself is defined from its perpetual foray reflecting the unknown future or the state of unawareness. According to Sartre, being for itself refers to a state in which a person is not basically what one may describe him/her as at now (Engels, 2018). For instance, if a person is a surgeon, he or she is not a surgeon in a way that is strong as being in itself. In reality, being for itself defines a man as a person of no essence, despite how much one strives to make self-essentialism. A man is referred to being for itself when he or she is conscious about what he or she is doing. The being and the purpose of being mindful is not defined by something in the state of consciousness. However, being and consciousness are found from the relationship between an object and awareness; that is, its essence is not driven internally but found in it, in this sense, it means the nature of something is influenced intrinsically (Engels, 2018). Consciousness is indeed something that exists from objects or being conscious of itself; in this type, consciousness consists of self-identity or self-consciousness. Being for itself also refers to unreflective consciousness, as identified in the pre-reflective Descartes' Cognito. Also, unreflective consciousness does not reflect on its object, but it is a consciousness of its consciousness (Engels, 2018). Since awareness can be a result of lack of being, this concept appears to be nihilation of the other concept, being-in-itself. Being for itself conceives Nothingness, which refers to a state of non-being.

Being-For-Others

According to Sartre, most of the relationships are shaped by people's fascination not to another person but rather from the way an individual makes them feel as a result of what they say or do or how other people look at them (Engels, 2018). This mode involves the emotional alienation of an individual whereby he or she is trying to avoid bad experiences by identifying oneself with what others look. As a result of these experiences and attempts to control the look, the person must be in a position to control others to maintain a good relationship. For itself, in this case, it is replaced with being for others; the role of either participant is not only to exists but also to control other's looking at what they do. In some cases, this may be referred to as love, but in the real sense, it is a lack of freedom as a result of conflict with others and emotional alienation. According to Sartre, being for others is making an unbearable relationship with others, which involves concentrating on other details other than the purpose of existence (Welten, 2015). At an extreme state of being for others, emotional alienation becomes more intense with a person been more concerned with the look of others about themselves; this brings about a kind of enslaved relationship by the look resulting in a denial of freedom to oneself. The look, therefore, causes pain to the participants as they attempt to take control over what others think about them.

Role of the Look in Relationships

According to Sartre, the look mainly refers to what happens when consciousness is driven to realize that it exists not only as of the primary concern of its existence or being but also as the fundamental objects t others (Trigg, 2017). Therefore the look plays a vital role in our relationships because it acts as a connection and influencing factor that makes the essence of relationships and our concern for others (Trigg, 2017). People would try to do something good to influence an excellent look. In this case, the look serves as a self-reflective mechanism, making it a full consciousness that is not only aware of innate motives but also concern about others. The look proves a sense of self-awareness as a person reflects on oneself to influence others through the look. It is slow the center for sexual desires; in relationships, the look motivates sexual experience. In relationships, the look involves mutual recognition that making oneself recognizable through the look. Through the look, we tend to bring our beloved's attention or consciousness into play.

References

Dixon, S. (2017). Cybernetic-existentialism in interactive performance: strangers, being-for-others, and autopoiesis. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 13(1), 55-76.

Duban, J. (2015). From Negative Identity to Existential Nothingness: Philip Roth and the Younger Jewish Intellectuals. Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and The History of Ideas, 13(1), 43-55.

Engels, K. S. (2018). From In-Itself to Practico-Inert: Freedom, Subjectivity, and Progress. Sartre Studies International, 24(1), 48-69.

Sartre, J. P. (2015). Being and Nothingness. Central Works of Philosophy v4: Twentieth Century: Moore to Popper, 4, 155.

Trigg, D. (2017). Agoraphobia, Sartre, and the Spatiality of the Look. Body/Self/Other: The Phenomenology of Social Encounters, 337.

Welten, R. (2015). Jean-Paul Sartre, Notebooks for an Ethics: The Ontology of the Gift. Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, 15, 3-15.