Freedom That

Causes Anxiety
A look at Sartre and his Existentialism

Laura Anna Rodzeń

 Born in 1905, the philosopher Jean Paul Sartre is considered the third great creator of
existentialism, which is the subject of this paper. First, however, it is worth looking briefly at the
course of his life. Due to his father's untimely death, he was raised by only women, which, as he
says, made him selfish. That is why, when he started attending high school in La Rochelle and
was deprived of the protective wings of his loving mother, he considered it a horrible time.
Consequently, after four years, he returned to Paris, where his internal cognitive process began -
he discovered leadership skills in himself and began to write his first satirical stories. His writing
career began in 1938 with the publication of the novel La Nausée. He did not give up creating art
even in the first moments of the war or later during his stay in a German POW camp in 1940,
where he felt solidarity with people for the first time, trying to cultivate art. In 1941, he managed
to be released on a forged medical certificate. As a person who vehemently opposed Nazism in
Paris, he joined the resistance movement. His ideology led to the creation of the underground
organization ‘Socialism and Freedom’1. His continued writing career led to him receiving the
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964 for his autobiographical novel Les Mots. The public was
surprised when the writer himself refused to accept it, arguing his choice that no man should be
"immortalized" while alive2. A similar thing happened a little later - he refused to accept the
Legion of Honor and a professorship at the Collège de France. These honors, according to Sartre,
"would limit his freedom"3. He died on April 15, 1980, in Paris.
Looking up the definition in the Cambridge English-English Dictionary, existentialism in
other words is: "a system of ideas made famous by Jean Paul Sartre in the 1940s in which the
world has no meaning, and each person is alone and completely responsible for their own
actions, by which they make their own character"4. Developing the topic further, the
existentialists, as well as Sartre, were Convinced that the existence and being of man in the world

1
Reynolds, Jack, and Pierre-Jean Renaudie. “Jean-Paul Sartre.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford
University, 26 Mar. 2022, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/.

2
Österling, Anders. “The Nobel Prize in Literature 1964.” NobelPrize.org,
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1964/press-release/.

3
Serwisy Grupy PWN, PWN. “Sartre Jean-Paul.” Sartre Jean-Paul, Encyklopedia Pwn: Źródło Wiarygodnej I Rzetelnej
Wiedzy, https://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/Sartre-Jean-Paul;3972496.html.

4
English Dictionary, Cambridge University Press. “Existentialism.” Cambridge Dictionary,
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/existentialism.
did not have any specific meaning to which man would be called by nature. Man is distinguished
by his freedom. This freedom is in his nature, and everything a person does and what decisions
he makes, it all makes him give sense to the world in which he lives. God is fiction; he does not
exist. Man, in his philosophy, is very limited; his existence begins and ends with being in the
world. Moreover, the whole meaning of man is given by himself 5. The first important thread of
existential considerations appears in Heidegger's philosophy and concerns the fundamental
phenomenon of human existence, death. Importantly, so far, it has been metaphysics and,
according to Heidegger, it was based on oppositions derived from Plato, such as reality -
appearance, truth - falsehood, primary - derivative, homogeneous - differentiated, objective -
subjective, etc. 6
Sartre's basic question was "What does it mean to be a being?" 7. His answer is direct
already in the very order of ‘Being and Nothingness’. One of the most famous foundational
moments of existentialism concerns Sartre's discovery of phenomenology while listening to his
friend Raymond Aron's description of an apricot cocktail in a Paris bar. From that moment on,
Sartre was fascinated by the originality and novelty of Husserl's method, which he immediately
identified to meet his philosophical expectations: overcoming the opposition between idealism
and realism, gaining a view of the world that would allow him to "describe objects as he saw and
touched them, and extract philosophy from the process." 8 While studying in Berlin, Sartre
attempted to turn his study of Husserl into a paper documenting his enthusiastic discovery of
intentionality. This prompted him to publish an article a few years later. Intentionally omitting

5
Bajer, Dorota. “EGZYSTENCJALIZM JAKO FILOZOFIA PODMIOTU1.” Repozytorium Uniwersytetu W
Białymstoku: Strona Główna, https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/.

6
Bednarz, R. “Egzystencjalizm (Wprowadzenie).” Egzystencjalizm (Wprowadzenie) - Serwis Humanistyczny Hamlet,
http://hamlet.edu.pl/egzystencjalizm-wprowadzenie.

7
Lewicki, Mikołaj. “O Jeana Paula Sartre'a Projekcie Człowieka W Sytuacji.” Zeszyty Naukowe Towarzystwa
Doktorantów UJ, https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/bitstream/handle/item/25214/lewicki_o_jeana_paula_sartre
%27a_projekcie_cz%C5%82owieka.pdf?sequence=1.

8
Reynolds, Jack, and Pierre-Jean Renaudie. “Jean-Paul Sartre.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 26
Mar. 2022, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/.
the idealistic aspects of Husserl's transcendental phenomenology, Sartre proposed a
radicalization of intentionality that emphasizes its anti-idealistic potential. 9
Sartre's views aroused great controversy and were the subject of much debate. Although
his views are rather negatively associated by France, the extraordinary popularity of Jean Paul
Sartre's existentialism is of great importance for the history of philosophy. He perceives a person
extremely individually. Since man oversees their destiny, it is up to him and only him to shape
his humanity10. In his lecture, Sartre explicitly addressed this question, describing existentialism
as “the least scandalous and the most austere” 11 of teachings and only intended for technicians
and philosophers. He stated that the common denominator of the so-called existentialists was
their belief that for human beings, ‘existence comes before essence’. What he meant by this was
that in contrast to a designed object such as a penknife – the blueprint and purpose of which pre-
exist the actual physical thing – human beings have no pre-established purpose or nature, nor
anything we must or ought to be12. All this contributes to stimulating human activity, action,
shaping, and giving meaning and value to one's life. It means that man counts as an individual
alone. Other people are strangers to him, and even more, they are enemies to man. Sartre says:
"Hell is other people"13. Any man who strives for happiness will come into conflict with another
man anyway. The reason for this is that no one can notice and accept other people's needs with
understanding. Each person individually builds own values, for which one is individually
responsible. For the suffering of the individual, the people around him cannot be blamed. This is
the most important consequence of the individual decisions, actions, and choices we constantly

9
Reynolds, Jack, and Pierre-Jean Renaudie. “Jean-Paul Sartre.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 26
Mar. 2022, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/.
10
Warburdon, Nigel. “A Student's Guide to Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism and Humanism.” Philosophy Now: a Magazine of
Ideas, https://philosophynow.org/issues/15/A_students_guide_to_Jean-Paul_Sartres_Existentialism_and_Humanism.

11
Carroll, Charles Durning. “Jean Paul Sartre.” A Philosophy Reader, Columbia West, 30 Aug. 2019,
https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/philosophyreader102/chapter/jean-paul-sartre/.

12
Warburdon, Nigel. “A Student's Guide to Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism and Humanism.” Philosophy Now: a
Magazine of Ideas, https://philosophynow.org/issues/15/A_students_guide_to_Jean-
Paul_Sartres_Existentialism_and_Humanism.

13
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Dramaty: Muchy, Przy Drzwiach Zamkniętych, Ladacznica Z Zasadami, Niekrasow. Państwowy
Instytut Wydawniczy, 1956.
face. Man is an individual who is doomed to live alone, but paradoxically, during various types
of rebellions, he shows solidarity with other people.14
Existentialism is a philosophical direction that fills a person with anxiety, fear, and
negative emotions. Because of his cruel ruthlessness, man cannot commit suicide to end this
suffering. Even more, existentialism encourages people to make an effort, often heroic, because
it is the only meaning of human life and existence in this world, while making people anxious for
their choices. This philosophical current did not find support in the church or in deterministic
currents, due to its shallowness. The lack of higher goals, and Sartre's uninterrupted claim
already mentioned that people shape their own characteristics, characters simply contradicted
their basic assumption15.
Sartre belongs to the controversial, but also groundbreaking philosophers for the idea of
existentialism of the last century. His beliefs defied the hitherto believed religious-psychological
laws, through their lack of hope and at the same time encouragement to act independently despite
difficulties without an alternative. Due to his unusual view of freedom, as well as interpersonal
relationships, many of his views may cause anxiety caused by basing his security on others -
according to the philosopher's beliefs, this is not right.

14
Joanna Roś. “Filozofia a Dramat, Na Przykładzie Twórczości Jean Paul Sartre’a.” BazHum, https://bazhum.pl/.

15
Pham, Jonathan. “Western Existentialism and Its Relation to Christianity.” Literature and Digital Diversity, 10 Apr.
2021, https://litdigitaldiversity.northeastern.edu/western-existentialism-and-its-relation-to-christianity/.
 Bibliography
Bajer, Dorota. “EGZYSTENCJALIZM JAKO FILOZOFIA PODMIOTU1.” Repozytorium
Uniwersytetu W Białymstoku: Strona Główna, https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/.

Bednarz, R. “Egzystencjalizm (Wprowadzenie).” Egzystencjalizm (Wprowadzenie) - Serwis

Humanistyczny Hamlet, http://hamlet.edu.pl/egzystencjalizm-wprowadzenie.

Carroll, Charles Durning. “Jean Paul Sartre.” A Philosophy Reader, Columbia West, 30 Aug.
2019, https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/philosophyreader102/chapter/jean-paul-sartre/.

English Dictionary, Cambridge University Press. “Existentialism.” Cambridge Dictionary,

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/existentialism.

Joanna Roś. “Filozofia a Dramat, Na Przykładzie Twórczości Jean Paul Sartre’a.” BazHum,
https://bazhum.pl/.

Lewicki, Mikołaj. “O Jeana Paula Sartre'a Projekcie Człowieka W Sytuacji.” Zeszyty Naukowe
Towarzystwa Doktorantów UJ,
https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/bitstream/handle/item/25214/lewicki_o_jeana_paula_sartre
%27a_projekcie_cz%C5%82owieka.pdf?sequence=1.

Pham, Jonathan. “Western Existentialism and Its Relation to Christianity.” Literature and
Digital Diversity, 10 Apr. 2021, https://litdigitaldiversity.northeastern.edu/western-
existentialism-and-its-relation-to-christianity/.

Reynolds, Jack, and Pierre-Jean Renaudie. “Jean-Paul Sartre.” Stanford Encyclopedia of

Philosophy, Stanford University, 26 Mar. 2022, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sartre/.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. Dramaty: Muchy, Przy Drzwiach Zamkniętych, Ladacznica Z Zasadami,

Niekrasow. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1956.
Serwisy Grupy PWN, PWN. “Sartre Jean-Paul.” Sartre Jean-Paul, Encyklopedia Pwn: Źródło
Wiarygodnej I Rzetelnej Wiedzy, https://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/Sartre-Jean-
Paul;3972496.html.

Warburdon, Nigel. “A Student's Guide to Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism and Humanism.”

Philosophy Now: a Magazine of Ideas,
https://philosophynow.org/issues/15/A_students_guide_to_Jean-
Paul_Sartres_Existentialism_and_Humanism.

Österling, Anders. “The Nobel Prize in Literature 1964.” NobelPrize.org,

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1964/press-release/.