Sartre's Phenomenological Ontology - Assignment Example

1 Discuss Sartre’s phenomenological ontology. Explain how the being-in-itself and being-for-itself differ. Explain how the ontological statue of the being-for-itself accounts for the possibility of both anxiety and human freedom. Sartre’s phenomenological ontology In phenomenal ontology Sartre discusses the nature of consciousness and its identity. According to him consciousness does not have a specific identity by itself. He asserts on the point that consciousness is voidness and does not have real awareness or goal of its own .It works in relation with the material world and co exist with the material body. It takes form when it comes in contact with or when it perceives physical objects of the world. One always remains in the state of realization with any object at any given time. Once the contact with an object is made, the person start to think or perceive ideas around that object. This relative ness of senses to object give rise to a working conscious and thus formulate as one’s ‘cosciousness’.As per Sartre the non-positional attribute of consciousness is one which categorize it as an ontology. The foundation of the consciousness solely relies on the existence of the tangible outside world. The conscious in itself is intangible and can only be realized once it visualizes an object or a living being. This makes consciousness a phenomenological ontology. Sartre attempts to construct an ontological account of human existence. The main idea is the groundlessness and desire for freedom which is the unique nature of human psychology. He emphasizes that the inner self of a person is nothingness. He explains that there are two forms of reality that is not under our conscious experience. According to him the essential element of consciousness is negative ness and this make it void in nature. Difference of being-in-itself and being-for-itself According to Sartre being – in –it and being for itself are the two realities of human.Existence. Being –in –itself is the unconscious being and being –for- it is conscious being. The former is stable, devoid of ability to change and has no awareness of it, but the later is conscious of its own consciousness. He explains being –in –itself as the objects existing in the outside world. This is a reality and it is not conscious. It cannot be categorized as an active or passive thing. He condemns that human existence has the irresistible dream to become being-in –itself. This desire can be related to a want of human to be the God. By this a human want to have a control on his life and destiny and be a master by himself. He claims that by desiring to be God, man is falling in to a condition of bad faith. Being –for-it is the concept of existence of self. He describes this by giving an example of a person working as a waiter in a café. The waiter considers himself to be a waiter which according to Sartre is absurd. The person cannot be a waiter as waiter is a concept of an object .He is in reality a man and can never be a waiter but someone functioning as a waiter. He is just trying to be a waiter for others by losing his true identity. Man is a being –for –itself unlike a tree which is a being-in-itself. Ontological statue of the being-for-itself and anxiety and human freedom Being –for –itself is the state in which the conscious has the consciousness of itself .This conscious being has the ability to bring change in its existence by acting on its behalf. Since the conscious being has no knowledge about the future, it is in a state of denial .Thus the ontological statue of the being –for-itself result in anxiety in a man. According to Sartre, a man is very much skeptical of his future and destiny and this make him a very anxious creature. He is always obsessed with the thought of his fate and this makes him a restless being. The being-for-itself is a conscious being and for the same reason it ceases to be being –in – it. It knows what it is not, and this awareness make him void. Hence a conscious being is aware of his nothingness; it has the ultimate freedom to formulate his identity in the world of his origin. However, being void the being –for –itself has the ability to intuit and see the world .This make him completely free and also bestows him with the power of imagination. A man can perform any action without permission from a superior being. He is the sole decision maker for his life as he exists with out any commandments from higher power. Sartre asserts that is full of nothingness and lack and this makes him a completely free being. We have the unlit mate choice to perform things according to our will. 2.) Discuss Bad Faith. What is it? What is its cause? Why are humans subject to it? What is its relation to anxiety? Give at least one example of living in Bad Faith. Discuss in what way “Good Faith” is possible. Bad Faith. What is it? What is its cause? Why are humans subject to bad faith? Sartre, in his writing mentions bad faith as ‘self deception’. According to him bad faith is putting ourselves under the notion that we are not free beings. Bad faith is being guilty for considering oneself to be an object and not a free being. We try to believe that our actions are not fully in our control and it is determined by the influence of our character, situations in life, our role in life .He says that a person is a free being and has all the rights to choose their action. However, a person try to be a different person who he is not and looses his identity and fall victim to bad faith. In bad faith a person is hiding the truth from himself. The cause of bad faith is the attempt of person to be an object. Human being is a conscious being and hence he is nothingness. He wants to cover up his nothingness by becoming an object. So he takes up identity and tries to act like it and by functioning in that false identity he ends up being in bad faith. When a person attempts to act in a way that he is totally not free and become unauthentic, he is in bad faith. Humans are subject to bad faith because he denies his given freedom. He tries to be what he is not in a process to identify him as an n object. He is aware of his freedom but in way unaware of it by denying to act on it. What is its relation to anxiety? According to Sartre human being gets anxious or fall prey to anxiety because of the sense of responsibility in him. Since man is a conscious being and is unknown about his future leaves him in a state of ambiguity. Being skeptical about future, he remains anxious. Human beings do not have an idea about what to expect in life and this situation lead to the development of anxiety within him. In bad faith people have a desire to connect with object and relate with it. One wants to identify with a being in order to overcome his nothingness and in this process he can feel anxious .A being- for –itself treats it like an object when it knows that it is not .As a human being is living with a dual mind and perception he comes under a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. Example of Living in bad faith An example for living in bad faith is a person who is a professor in university and thinks that he is a professor rather than a void consciousness. He considers himself to be different from other in social, education and economical status. He thinks he is an object which is a professor but simultaneously he is ware of his true free nature. In future he can become a manger or writer and then he can be a different object. So this makes his identity subjective according to his functioning and this is not his real identity. He is in bad faith as he is knowingly and unknowingly neglecting his void consciousness which has full freedom to perform according to his will. What way “Good Faith” is possible According to Sartre Good faith happens when a man accepts his facility that he is a thing and also he is more than just a thing. In good faith man manifests his freedom genuinely and this makes his freedom real. Good faith is attained by a person when he realizes that his existence is not subjective but is nothingness and can be molded according to his freewill. Good faith comes when we understand the freedom we have in our life to choose what we want, when and how .Human does not have a true identity other than his void consciousness and he is accountable for all his action. If he knows and acknowledges this fact he becomes the reality and he will no more live in self deception. These who do not understand this fact of life will head towards anxiety and will lead an unauthentic life. Human when not in good faith does not make a balance between facility and transcendence. Their life is not in harmony as his thinking is unrealistic .Bad faith makes them think that they belong to the world of objects and have no past of their own. It is possible to be in good faith by not evaluating oneself by the role one performing in life but by one’s free will to live life. Read More