French Philosopher Sartre on Consciousness - Essay Example

French Philosopher Sartre on Consciousness Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980), French philosopher and political thinker, was perhaps the most documented and written about writer of his time. A prolific writer, his work ranged from pamphlets to lectures to plays, always expounding on the particular turn his concepts has taken in the course of his history. They provided the material for analyses and commentaries that followed the evolution of his concepts that have proven to have been fascinating for the intellectual community. Despite his sometimes obscure terminologies, students and experts alike have studied the literature almost to saturation. Articles about him ranged from speculations about the trauma which led to his philosophies in later life to what some refer to as his “God problem.” His importance lies, however, in his defense of his stand on the absolute right of humans to freedom and responsibility. (O’Donohoe, 2005) Sartre wrote about many things, mainly the essence of what it is to be human. Later on in his life he became interested in political philosophy and dabbled in the teachings of Marxism. However, among his earliest concepts and for which he based his theory of “existentialism” involved the structure and nature of human consciousness, which he eventually attempted to explain in what is considered his masterpiece, “Being or Nothingness.” (Onof, 2006) The Nature and Structure of Consciousness In the text, he discloses that consciousness is always contained within a physical structure. (O’Donohoe) It cannot be free-floating not can it exist after its physical structure ceases to be. This is the point in which he posits that there is no Supreme Being who created man and is the source of all moral values. Since he claims that consciousness exists for only as long as its physical structure, there is no afterlife in which the soul will return to this Supreme Being after death and receive its just rewards. Sartre defended this position of physical finality with varying success throughout his career. Consciousness only exists in relation to other body-objects. It is perpetually being redefined and changed in relation to another object which it can perceive at any point of time, even if that object is an empty chair which defines the absence of something. Without an object to define itself, consciousness would not be possible It is always positive and transparent, not to be confined within limits of perceptions of what it should be or what it had been or what it is not. The essence of consciousness relies solely on its existence, as it is and simply as is. The appearance of consciousness is at the same time its essence. There are no hidden meanings or ambiguities. Clearly this correlates to identification of what it is not, for if it is a constantly changing process, how can it be defined for what it is? Just as an example to further explain his view, think of water changing form from liquid to gas to solid and so on. Consciousness is not the water nor is it the different forms it takes but rather the process from one state to the next. If we follow this reasoning, logically the essence being is continuously in flux, always in the process of becoming not what it had been. Consciousness is not a state of being but an activity, a process of going towards something. It is the activity that defines consciousness, not consciousness in itself. Sarte explains that it is not the end result, if there ever will be one that denotes consciousness, nor is it the present state of a being. Rather, consciousness is the constant process that takes place within one’s self. In which case, it is safe to say that based on his concept, consciousness is fluid, and cannot be fixed or placed in a state of inertia. Let us explain further that by process we do not mean a single procedure repetitively done but an ever changing process, and always by choice. This is another important concept Sartre maintains throughout his life, that humans are free to choose. The awareness presents the being with choices at every turn and each choice carries a corresponding consequence. In matters of choice, one must consider the aspect in which the consciousness finds itself in any given situation. In the pre-reflective aspect of consciousness, being is merely aware of the object without any impact on its own self. There is no act made upon the object. However, when the reflective aspect kicks in, the object presents a more subjective meaning to being and becomes an active part of the consciousness. There is intent to act upon the object of the consciousness present. For example, a tree with green leaves is simply a tree that is visible for which no reflection is necessary. But once there is focus on the tree and curiosity about what kind of tree it is, it becomes meaningful. There may be a stirring of memory or a desire to know the species of tree, perhaps a touch, and this becomes a part of consciousness which would possibly influence choices made in the future. It may even be the beginning of a fascination which may lead to a career as a botanist or an environmentalist. Or conversely, it may inspire a revulsion of all things with leaves or bark and prompt a desire to live within concrete walls. There is no consciousness of consciousness within itself. Awareness is turned outward towards objects that are apart from the consciousness body-object, not internally. There is always an awareness of an object when one is in a state of consciousness, and awareness only ceases when being is in a non-conscious. In other words, there is ceaseless activity in the form of awareness when consciousness is present. It does not matter if the object is a something or someone or if there is any kind of interaction between beings or with another consciousness. This non-positional quality of consciousness is what makes it an ontology, a study of beings in all states. And the fact that consciousness depends on the awareness of other beings to achieve a tangibility, it qualifies as a phenomenological ontology. In “Being and Nothingness,” three states of being are identified: the being-for-itself, the consciousness itself; the being-in-itself, which is the object by which consciousness defines itself (Guney, 1998); and the being-for-others, as exemplified by “the look.”(Audi) For purposes of simplification, being-for-itself is designated as the first person or “I” (not to be confused with the “I” of the transcendental ego discussed in the latter part of this paper), the being-in-itself as the second person or “You” and being-for-others as the third person or “They”. One of the difficulties of understanding the concepts of being and nothingness is the numerous times the word “being” is used. While the transference is crude, for this section of the assessment these terms will be used. To illustrate the relationship of the three states, consider this scenario: I am human. You are human. I see you, you see me. I think you look like my son’s 1st grade teacher, whom I liked. You smile nicely and I decide to be your friend. They see you and me talking. I think they think, as I am married, I should not be talking to you tete-a-tete, because they look disapproving. I feel uncomfortable because they are watching. I leave. You leave. “The look” is the equivalent of being caught red-handed or “in the act”. Beings become objects of other beings which are (presumably) forming opinions (probably unflattering) about the first being. In other words, the being-for-others prompts a need for self-examination, or self-consciousness, and the consciousness becomes aware that some actions may not be acceptable to others and forces a feeling of shame. It is perhaps akin to watching a reality show in which a person’s every move is being televised. Awareness of this constant scrutiny may inspire shame in doing the most common things, such as picking your nose. Under normal circumstances, people do this all the time, but in private for courtesy’s sake. There is no thought that it is shameful in itself, per se, until others are brought into the equation. Then it becomes shameful act. (Boje, 2001) In the previous illustration, there is no intent of wrongdoing for both the consciousness and the object of consciousness yet “the look” made it a shameful encounter. This third “being” is perhaps the most fascinating of the three beings because it exerts so much influence on the consciousness while being, essentially, not part of the conscious act. It is the belief that most people think the worst of others, delighting in catching someone else doing wrong. However, there is no possibility to know what the other consciousness is thinking, so the feeling of shame is entirely a product of the consciousness own pattern of beliefs and sense of morality. It should be noted that these states may exist within a single consciousness at each moment singly, dually or all at the same time. Take the scenario of a concert, in which the consciousness is being bombarded by other objects in an ever-swirling mass of stimuli. The consciousness could be all three at the same time, seeing, being seen and seeing others being seen and seeing. Sartre has emphasized in “Being and Nothingness” that consciousness is the act of becoming one which is not by affirming the state in which one wishes to become. But in affirming the state to which one is becoming, there is a concurrent negation of what the consciousness had been and is in the act of not becoming. This state of duality is the consciousness in the state of being-for-itself. At the same time, the consciousness slips into a state of being-in-itself when the being resolves itself to simply being what it is without reflection and without reference to objects outside itself. (Boje) As an illustration, consider a young girl of twelve who is in the throes of adolescence. Her body is changing and she is developing an interest in boys. Thus she is a girl changing into a woman, but she is neither here nor there. She also plays the piano and enjoys playing Bach. When she sits on a piano stool and lays her fingers on the keys, she is no longer girl-turning-into-woman but simply girl-playing-piano, something she has done as a girl and something she will do as a woman. Another example that comes to mind is a wedding. When a woman goes to her wedding, she undergoes a period of becoming and nihilation. She is becoming a “Mrs. Something” from a “Ms. Other” and the changing of the name is more than a label or legal necessity. It represents all that she is leaving behind (singleness, virginity, dating) and all that is gaining (husband, children, companionship). While this is also true of an about-to-be-married man, women are more illustrative examples. Sartre’s incursion into the realms of beings is not confined by any means to dissertations and lectures. One particular play, “No Exit” (Sartre, 1943) is a humorous, macabre illustration of the extent to which human relationships could be a sort of prison in which there is no escaping from one another, a form of “hell.” It may seem funny from the first reading, even ridiculous, but Sartre was able to clearly illustrate his point using the three main characters of the play with the three states of consciousness as he defines it: Garcin is the being-for-itself; Inez the being-for-others; and Estelle the being-in-itself. In the story, each one corresponds to objects of desire, hate, hope, selfishness and love, subtly shaded throughout the three characters. Even after they realize and accept that they are dead and probably in hell, they accept their situation and choose to go on with their existence and consciousness, such as it is. It is also interesting to define the main characters in terms of their authenticity. Both Garcin and Estelle exhibit bad faith when they deny any responsibility for their own deaths. Both had died as a direct consequence of their actions and both continue to delude themselves into denial, though in varying degrees. Estelle is the epitome of bad faith, stoutly declaring herself innocent of any wrongful action whatsoever. Inez, on the other hand, though quite an unpleasant character, embodied the authentic person in that she was clearheaded about her actions and death, accepting responsibility for all her wrong doing, even declaring herself “rotten to the core.” Of course, Sartre could have chosen a more positive scenario to illustrate the concepts of the “being” and authencity but it would not have been as entertaining. “No Exit” brings to mind a caricature of a bad marriage with a child unfortunate enough to be caught in between. In real life, the being-in-itself is also in turn a being-for-itself in relationships, and often there is dissatisfaction when objects of awareness appear to be unattractive. On occasions when attraction happens, further exploration of the body-object may reveal aspects of character that either repels or further attracts. In many cases, compromises are reached in which repellent characteristics are ignored in the hope that it can be made to go away or to change. Sometimes, sincere acceptance of undesirable qualities in each other occurs. Very rarely, both parties find each other a complement and live happily ever after. (Wahl, 2001-2004) For each situation that one encounters, whether in relationships, work or play, the consciousness comes into play and actively dictates the choices made. Emotions are considered a degradation of consciousness because it inhibits the clarity of choice, clouding rational thought, so to speak. For example, when an intelligent young man sees a beautiful woman, he thinks she is a desirable companion and seeks to establish a relationship. If the attraction to a beautiful face is strong enough, the complete lack of intellect may be deliberately overlooked although reason makes it apparent that points of discussion would be reduced to nil. Alternatively, if a woman with an aversion to handsome, dark men because of unfortunate experience encounters a handsome, dark man who is otherwise a good match for her, she is predisposed to reject any sort of intimate contact. There is no reason behind it, merely the fear of rejection or hurt that in all probability would not come to pass. Consciousness is necessarily a sum of its essence and experiences, and as previously illustrated, the choices that are made are influenced by time and these experiences. However, Sartre rejects the Freudian idea of the subconscious in which some behaviors are deemed beyond the control of the body-subject. (Gennaro, 2002) Sartre maintains that the consciousness precludes any involuntary act because one always has a choice. When a person provides as a defense for an immoral act that he had no choice and was only doing his job, Sartre classifies this as acting in “bad faith.” Bad faith is defined as the attempt to transfer responsibility for one’s actions to an institution or another person, such as the government or the boss. It is the denying or deliberate rejection of freedom that Sartre considers the birthright of all humans. (O’Donohue) Many slip into socially accepted roles such as mother, teacher, boy scout, and proceed to play it in the manner they perceive as the “proper” way. Consciousness is put on hold because the spontaneity is not present, only prescribed behavior that may have nothing to do with the essence of the human consciousness enacting the role. There is no freedom to choose to act in certain ways. It is like a connect-the-dots book with numbers. The path is indicated and the object of the book is to prescribe the path. The same is with coloring books that dictate the colors to be used. Of course one may choose not to do it, but how many people would do that? Bad faith is one way in which the human consciousness becomes stagnant. The elimination of freedom curtails the imagination and spirit of exploration. It is the fear of the accompanying responsibility that prompts this denial. “They made me do it,” is the whine of many a person caught in wrongdoing, and in an ideal society this would not be acceptable. But the world being far from ideal, this is not the case, and some escape the penalties of their wrongdoing with this defense. (Onof) To be an authentic person, one must acknowledge that all personal actions were done by free choice and accept responsibility for the consequences of such actions. The transcendental ego is also an interesting point that Sartre discourses upon. He argues that the ego has no reason for being in consciousness. It is a projection of the consciousness which has no direct bearing on the workings of consciousness except as an expression of intent. The “I” is external, the consciousness internal. When one says, “I am watching television” the purpose is not to present any internal revelations nor to refer to the object in question, such as the television, but merely to state the intent of watching television. If, however, one states, “The television is on” it describes (pre-reflexive) the object of which one is aware of and which has significance to the consciousness because the choice (reflexive) of whether one will watch or not becomes imminent. (Guney) Sartre essentially postulates that humans are the product of their actions, and that intentions for such actions hold no redeeming qualities if such actions are considered immoral. In later life, however, Sartre modifies his dictum of “We are what we do” to “We are what we make of what others have made of us,” perhaps acknowledging the truth that human experiences conditions responses and choices, thus defining freedom of choice. (O’Donohue) Perhaps this modification was a product of Sartre’s own experiences and disillusionment in his forays into human behavior and political philosophy, although he remained firm in his championship of the underdog, victims of unscrupulous institutions and political manipulations. (O’Donohue) Conclusion Consciousness as defined by Sartre is always embodied and existence precedes essence and essence ends with existence. It is fluid, transparent and exists only in relation with others outside itself. Consciousness is a product of time, history, experiences and essence. Consciousness is not an entity but an activity and exists only as itself and no other. Two aspects of consciousness are identified: pre-reflective, in which the consciousness is aware of an object but does not internalize it, and reflective, in which the consciousness develops intent with regards to the body-object. “Bad faith” is the denial of freedom for fear of reprisals and desire to avoid the consequences of immoral actions while authenticity is the willingness to accept freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences. Sartre succeeded in institutionalizing his concepts of consciousness, partly through sheer volume of work that drove his point home, sometimes confusingly, but always constantly and partly because he never wavered in his basic precepts of human consciousness: the freedom to choose and responsibility for actions. He will be remembered as the man who said “I am therefore I think.” (O’Donohue) References Audi, R. ed. “Jean-Paul Sartre” excerpted from The Cambridge Dictionary of Philiosopy retrieved January 8, 2007 from http://www.mythosandlogos.com/Sartre.html Boje, D. (2001) Jean-Paul Sartre - Being and Nothingness Fathers and Mothers of Management retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://cbae.nmsu.edu/~dboje/teaching/503/sartre_links.htm Gennaro, R. (2002) Jean-Paul Sartre and the HOT Theory of Consciousness Canadian Journal of Philosophy retrieved January 8, 2007 from http://isu1.indstate.edu/rgennaro/papers/sartreHOT.doc Guney, H. (1998) On Sartre and Self-Consciousness Janus Head retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.janushead.org/JHSummer98/HulyaGuney.cfm O’Donohue, B. (2005) Why Sarte Matters Philosophy Now retrieved January 8, 2007 from http://www.philosophynow.org/issue53/53odonohoe.htm Onof, C. (2006) Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980): Existentialism The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy retrieved January 8, 2007 from http://www.iep.utm.edu/s/sartre-ex.htm Sartre, J. (1943) No Exit retrieved January 8, 2007 from http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/hell/sart.html Wahl, S. (2001-2004) Sartre and Consciousness Froyd.net retrieved January 9, 2007 from http://www.froyd.net/philosophy/philo23.htm Read More