what is your opinion of this Sartre quote "Hell is other people"?

Answer 1

Hell is thyself

Answer 2

I think he meant that other people make us self-conscious about what we are doing. We care about what others think of us but can never really know their true opinion.

A philosophy professor of mine used the example of a person listening at a keyhole (for any purpose). As long as he feels alone, he's barely aware of himself as a conscious being. He "is" listening. But let someone else walk in and see him and his sense of self-consciousness comes back with a rush (and a blush). He wants to prove to this "other" that he "is" not usually nosy, that he had a good reason for listening etc. And no matter how much this other seems convinced, he (the listener) can never be sure that this other believes a word of it.

The line "hell is other people" was uttered in Sarte's play No Exit about four mismatched people sharing an ugly room in hell. The only instruments of torture are the other people for the reason I've explained above. It may seem like hyperbole, but in context it makes a lot more sense.

Answer 3

As Sartre was a Nihilist and certainly didn't believe in a spiritual heaven and hell he had to find an equivilent in the material world. O.K he placed hell on the backs of others. But what about heaven ? Everything has its opposite. Could it be in his religion of disbelief that he created a form of heaven?

Answer 4

I think the point of the quote is to note that such notions as "hell" and "evil" are depend on a social order and human constructs. Consider if there were no humans existing anymore--the entire race is eradicated--then there would be no "evil" and no need for morals. The lion killing the gazelle does so out of necessity of survival--to eat. "Hell" in Sartre's quote stands in to show that morals and the consequences of action are dependent on social relations--in short, dependent on "other people."

Answer 5

I am thinking in Sartre's ways and this is NOT MY own value. Without others, one is unrestrained and completely free to do whatever the h-ell one wants. Others bind you, take you for a ride, use, you, take up your time that could be spent on productive activities (for a person like Sartre--prolific writing and sexing). Without others (women who are prudes), he could ***** more freely

Answer 6

Sartre got it wrong. Hell is how we feel about other people. Heaven is also how we feel about other people. Hell or Heaven is our own responsibility. Why give away the power that is our own?

Answer 7

It is a contextual truth, in the context of generally accepted perceptions of heaven and hell. That is, that the general concept of either implies a harmonious or torturous existence among others.

Concepts of selfishness and selflessness cannot exist within a self-contained existence consisting of a solitary being. Morals don't exist as they are a concept having application only within a society, however small. You are the sole executor and judge of all your actions and you can be condemned by none since there can be no victims of your actions other than yourself. Take obvious note of the fact that other living creatures are excluded and that, if one were to take an absolute stand on the sanctity of life determined by one's own solitary mind, one could obviously create new definitions of morality within /that/ context exclusive of other humans.

Yes, to oversimplify, we are at the mercy of others' actions--how they affect us directly or indirectly. The deliberate or indeliberate will of others can bring an untimely end to any of us at any moment. One can be subject to torture directly, physically at the hands of another; one can be subject to indirect torture from the actions of another that may pierce and tear at ideas we hold to be dear. The wills of others can destroy your own and vice-versa. That is the ultimate power we all wield: to be producer or audience to a constructed hell of will.

So what do you do?

Answer 8

My opinion is that it is indeed a quote by Sartre. And I agree.

Answer 9

I believe the entire quote is "Hell is other people at breakfast"? In any event, without an understanding of the fact, per Buddhism, and other similar approaches, that we are all "one", and that compassion and kindness are important traits, and that most people are quite dysfunctional, and are "doing the best they can", dealing with our fellow humans can become quickly unbearable, eh?

So, at one level his statement, in either version, is quite accurate --dealing with the quirks and general obnoxiousness. But on the other hand, with the "proper" attitude, and taking nothing personally, dealing with "our sisters and brothers" can become somewhat amusing and instructive :))

Answer 10

Hell is what we make it. If his hell is dealing with people then so be it. Others like me can tolerate people and have a different idea of what Hell could be. But we will never know what Hell truly is until we are there.

Answer 11

I think it reflects the idea that whether we think we like each other or we hate each other, we are all part of each other, bonded together even though we think we don't want to be, and even though we fight against it, we cannot get out of it.
That's why it's hell.

We are caught up in our own paradoxes, contradictions, and egos. Yet we wouldn't leave even if we had a chance.

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