What does this phrase mean?
2006-08-11 05:36:17 · 6 answers · asked by asdfjkl 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
In Sartre's philosophy the key word is "existence". Satre thought mans freedom was a curse. "Man is condemned to be free. Comdemned because he has not created himself and is nevertheless free. Because having once been hurled into the world, he is responsible for everything he does."
I just want peoples thoughts on this.
2006-08-11 06:00:20 · update #1
This was a statement made by the philosopher Sartre in the book "Being and Nothingness". As he spends much of the book discussing it, it has many implications.
To Sartre, being free means being able to choose... in a sense to be able to CREATE the world around you. This is both an awesome power and and awesome responsibility. For if you do not like who you are or the surroundings in which you find yourself, it is nobody's problem but your own. You can roll up your sleeves and MAKE yourself into a better person or WORK to change the world around you, or you can become its next victim.
Much of what Sartre saw around him led him to believe the world was predominantly peopled with victims. They projected responsibility for everything on everyone around them - their habits were the fault of their parents, their financial woes were the fault of their governments, or everything was the fault of God. While Sartre saw that these was a comforting ideas to those who held them, it was also an abdication of their duty to themselves and hinderance their recovery from such situations.
Thus, he thought, freedom was like a criminal sentance. It was imposed on you from the outside whether you liked it or not and the person who was truly aware of the way things were would find himself naked against a hostile universe instead of wrapped in more pleasant dreams that nothing was really their problem.
Hope that helps!
2006-08-11 05:55:45 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My favorite novels are the trilogy by Sartre 'The Roads to Freedom'.
If man is 'condemned to be free' it takes the hero Mathieu a hell of long time before he comes up with a genuine free act.
2006-08-11 10:00:17 · answer #2 · answered by Douglas M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
25 to life in a Federal Prision
2006-08-11 05:38:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
not in islamic countries where they are told what to think from the day of their birth. No fear about having freedom there - wont ever happen.
2006-08-11 05:42:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
i think it means our freedom of choice given to us by god if you make the wrong choices all the time you are condemned to go to hell
2006-08-11 05:50:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Man is only free in Christ.
2006-08-11 05:46:34 · answer #6 · answered by Preacher 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋