Free Essay on Jean Paul Sartre's Philosophy

In the Jean Paul Sartres Philosophy Being and Nothingness, Sartre views love as a fraught, painful, hazardous and ceaseless struggle that is characterized either by masochism or sadism. He goes to a great length to describe masochism and sadism so that the readers can make an inference. Sartre implies that masochism is when a lover tries to become what he thinks the lover wants for him while in sadism he ties him down treating him as an object. In his other philosophy Bad faith or existentialism, one is introduced to the same phenomenon of comprising freedom. Only that this time people are the one deceiving themselves into thinking that they cannot make choices freely maybe due to fear of unknown consequences or because they are under societal forces. In Both philosophies, it is clear that the freedom is comprised.

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A critical claim in masochism is that it doomed to fail. A lover should be free to choose freely and should not be made to be who they are not. Aiming for unity among lovers leads to them transcending each other and using each other thus creating a conflict. Furthermore, becoming completely submissive to a lover is romantic but should be made a choice. A lover should not be made an instrument of subjectivity. Using your lover to get access to the objective view of oneself will make masochism fail. Sartre says that if masochism doesnt work he would try sadism which means taking his lover by force. I regard this as controlling a lover in the spa of the moment. Sartre uses sex as a method of making the lover an object at that moment. He says that you can torture the lover all you want during sex but this I disagree. A lover should be given the freedom to be happy and enjoy that moment. Sadism cannot survive since using both bodies as instruments cannot result in merging thus objective not achieved.

Following the Bad faith philosophy, people need to make free individual choices. People are always free to make choices but external circumstances in their different lives limit and result in fear of choices. Although they still have the choice to choose one over the other choice they tend to choose in anguish for they know they have to make a choice. Many prefer to stick to their safe and easy choices and like making default ones. By doing that they are unable to recognize the other choices that they have at their display. Thus, they are left to make choices in their according to their surroundings. They tend to pretend that they lack freedom by pursuing concerns that are pragmatic and adopting certain social roles which are in line with their conscious nature as human beings. But, doing so is making a choice so they should acknowledge that they have a choice. However, they have the freedom to choose the direction of their own lives no matter the situation. Even if the situation is overwhelming they still have freedom of choice.

In conclusion, the overall impression of the Sartres philosophies is that freedom of choice is essential in life. Generally, every person has the right to be free in making a choice regarding his or her life. It is best that we acknowledge and exercise such freedom.