Explain Sartre’s belief that we are we are responsible for the creation of morality and for prescribing morality to everyone else. Give your own example that demonstrates this view in addition to Sartre’s own example of marriage.
Existence happens before essence, god is not real, and humans are the future of humans. People are in this world and when they are thrown into this world they exist but they are nothing and man is only what they make themselves to be through choices and actions. Sartre would seem to believe that in the belief that since there is no god then humans came from humans there is no heaven so humans are responsible purely for themselves. Since we as humans are responsible for ourselves everything is allowed in that we make ourselves to be exactly what we purpose ourselves to be. Also because of this we must make ourselves as humans a moral code to live by because again since there is no god we or even better I am responsible for creating a good moral code to live by that cannot only work for myself but also for others. So if we are as humans purely responsible for ourselves and for the morals we set then we must share them with other humans to create the moral code that can be lived by all because of god not being real we are not bound by the fake morality that survives in religion.
As I see what Sartre is saying for myself is currently right now I have purposed myself to become a nurse, in doing this I am beginning to create an image of myself later on because right now I am technically nothing but I won’t always be that way. As I am making choices I am solidifying who I am and who I am going to be. I may have hopes and dreams but if I do not purpose myself to making those things a reality then I will just be a failure and create anguish in myself. But if I do continue to take the course and pass the tests needed to become a certified nurse then I have created my reality and image that I as a human being am entirely responsible on my own. And in doing this I am creating an image for other men to see and do as I do.
Sartre’s own example of this is on marriage. By choosing to get married Sartre says he is choosing monogamy for himself but not only himself but for all of mankind. This is the way that all men should be living their lives. In fashioning himself he is fashioning man.
This all comes back to the thought of if there is no god then man is the only thing there is. Man is responsible for man and there is nothing else. Man as his existence came before the essence of a man happened. We exist and then we create our essence and we or in this case I create everything. In his beliefs humans are everything there ever will be. My personal opinion on this is it sounds great but at the same time there has to be a little bit more to life than this and although he has some pretty convincing points I do not totally agree with him. I would tend to believe that there is something more to the belief that there was a dietal artisan that had the essence before the existence of man.
bryanhorsting 