104 Moral Philosophy: Ideas of Good and Evil, Right and Wrongstatement. His other plays include The Flies, Dirty Hands, and
The CondemnedofAltona. His most famous philosophical work,
Being and Nothingness, explains his existential philosophy. He
also continued developing his views in Existentialism is a
Humanism, Critique o f Dialectical Reasoning, and Search for a
Method.
Jean-Paul Sartre was probably the most influential of the
atheistic existentialists. He reached the height of his popularity
during “the sixties,” that decade between 1965— 1975 when his
brand of existentialism was very influential among the young.
He died in 1980.
Almost all discussions of existentialism begin with the state
ment, “Existence precedes essence.” There are several ways to
approach that statement for understanding. In one sense it means
that there are no absolutes, no eternal truths, no Platonic ideals
or Aristotlean essences. Also, this concept maintains that every
thing exists only in our consciousness. There are no metaphysi
cal realities, only descriptions of what exists as psychological
realities. In another sense, not only does existence precede
essence, there is never a real essence, since each occurrence has
an effect on that which exists and thereby changes it. Thus, each
individual gives meaning to things. There are no independent
realities outside the individual.
There are two types of existential philosophies, theistic and
atheistic. The early influences on Sartre, Kierkigaard and
Heidegger, were theistic existentialists, as was Sartre’s contem
porary Martin Buber. But Sartre committed early to the atheistic
position and his existentialism reflects that position. He disputes
the existence of God on three levels. First, all existence is
contingent on other factors, so if God exists, He exists as a
dependent being, and the concept of an all-powerful God is
nullified. Second, Satre’s concept of absolute freedom requires
that man choose his own essence, his own nature. If God existed
and created man, man would have a God-given nature and could
not create his own; therefore, God cannot exist if Satre ’s premise
of freedom is true. Finally, if God is all-powerful, then limits on
man’s freedom are possible, and Sartre claims this cannot be so.
Therefore, God cannot exist.
Two terms which are important to Sartre’s concept of being
are “being in-itself ’ and “being for-itself.” The idea of in-itself