EXISTENTIALIST HUMANISM

EXISTENTIALIST HUMANISM:

Q.2- How is human freedom related to his existential situation? Discuss in detail Levinas’ philosophy of responsibility for the other.

Ans. Jean Paul Sartre, an existentialist humanist tried to find out the solution for objective moral norm on the basis of ontology.  The crux of moral philosophy is the question: is there a same foundation - an objective reality – which does in fact serve as a basis, or foundation, for moral values irrespective of their divergence and variability? For Sartre, the objective foundation could only be a ‘realism of essences’ created by God.  But, according to him, God does not exist.

       He says that in the absence of any pre-existing essence, to build any moral order and also there is not any norm on the basis of which anybody can pass moral judgement, the very agent is free to create his own moral values.  Sartre is not against the universal form of Ethics but he says that this universal form is based on human freedom itself.

       Sartre denies his philosophy being inhuman.Since, it promotes the human freedom and dignity as well it is

much more humanism than any other philosophy.  He says that while behaving freely by one’s own freedom, one should not ignore the freedom of others.  Since there does not exist any God to decide the norm, human person finds himself cursed to be free and thrown in this world of passion.  He is anguished by this freedom and disappointed to be free.

       But  human person for itself is rather from a thing. Human person is dynamic, undetermined and indefinable as opposed to the thing which is static, fixed, determined and definable. With some pre-existing norms to determine him, human person also  would have been like thing and devoid of his dignity.  It is his existence as free being which makes his essence.  That’s why he says that existence precedes essence. It is possible for human person to proceed forward from his existing situation.  This is possible because of his being a conscience being.  The concept of God which includes both the ‘in-itself’ and ‘for itself’ is contradictory, according to Sartre. It is obvious that his ethical doctrine is determined by his ontology. Hence, his atheism plays crucial role in the description of ethical theories.

       The universality which lies in the ethical norm is the universality of human freedom. So, he says that, a person who does not   recognize his freedom and tries to find excuses for his decisions is a salaud (bastard).  Every human person is free to invent his own moral value.  So, human person is synonymous   with human freedom for Sartre. Every human person is free to make himself what he wants to be.

       According to critics, this freedom may lead to anarchism, is assessed from the practical point of view.  Giving too much emphasis on the dynamic nature of human being and ignoring his ontological essence would lead to logical absurdity.  Since, moral values are based on human person himself; ignoring his noumnal reality which is static would give only one sided view.