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If you were to die tomorrow, then all of your choices and actions up until this point are added up into a sum, and that sum is who you are as a person. That is who you were. That is how people will remember you.
Explore Sartre's existentialism: we become what we do, not what we dream, embracing freedom and responsibility in a godless world.
Key Takeaways
- You become who you are through your actions, not your dreams.
- Freedom is inescapable and comes with full responsibility for your choices.
- Existence precedes essence; humans create their own meaning.
- Bad faith limits personal growth by denying freedom.
- Ethical living arises from accepting freedom and its consequences.
What the video covers
- Our identity is the sum of our actions and choices, not our dreams or potential.
- Jean-Paul Sartre's famous quote: 'Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself' highlights radical freedom and responsibility.
- Existentialism confronts us with the burden of choice and the absence of predetermined essence or divine purpose.
- Sartre rejects nihilism and offers an optimistic doctrine of action, emphasizing freedom within life's limitations.
- Despite external constraints like biology or social conditions, we remain responsible for our choices.
- Existence precedes essence: humans define their own meaning through actions after birth.
- Bad faith is the denial of freedom by blaming nature or circumstances, leading to self-sabotage.
- Without God, everything is permitted, making personal responsibility crucial to ethical behavior.
- Sartre’s philosophy encourages embracing freedom fully to live authentically and find fulfillment.
- Meaning is created through ongoing projects and goals that give life purpose despite inevitable suffering.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction: Identity as Sum of Actions
- 01:16Sartre's Philosophy and Radical Freedom
- 03:01Criticism and Sartre's Optimism
- 04:37Historical Context: Existentialism and Nietzsche
- 06:09Condemned to Be Free: Responsibility and Choice
- 07:49Existence Precedes Essence Explained
- 10:52Freedom Within Limitations
- 15:08Good Faith vs Bad Faith and Ethical Implications
- 17:57Finding Meaning Through Purpose and Projects
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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you. [music] There's no longer such a thing as dreams or potential. There's only what you have actually [music] materialized in the world. And now ask yourself honestly, can you live with that? Do you feel you have truly lived?
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There's no longer such a thing as dreams or potential. There's only what you have actually materialized in the world. And now ask yourself honestly, can you live with that? Do you feel you have truly lived?
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Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. This is one of the most famous quotes by Jean-Paul Sartre, and it is also the reason why his philosophy is so uncomfortable. I actually saw a review on Goodreads that
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Do you feel you've become the person you want to be, or is it all still in your head and will just vanish along with you?
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Sartre's philosophy feels a lot like the tough love you get from a friend when you're feeling down. That, while not being very comfortable, is the only advice that actually helps you change your life and get it together. But
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Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. This is one of the most famous quotes by Jean-Paul Sartre, and it is also the reason why his philosophy is so uncomfortable. I actually saw a review on Goodreads that sums this up pretty well.
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alarming in the doctrine that I'm about to try to explain to you is that it confronts man with a possibility of choice." This quote is from Existentialism as a Humanism, which is a lecture that was delivered by Sartre in
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Have you ever noticed that when you are at rock bottom, nothing makes you feel better quite as much as Sartre telling you that if your life is up, it's your own fault.
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humanity. For a bit of context, existentialism was very much frowned upon at the time, and this is mainly because of Nietzsche. Now, Nietzsche was an existentialist, yet also a nihilist, which gave his flavor of existentialism a bit of a bitter, despairing taste.
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Sartre's philosophy feels a lot like the tough love you get from a friend when you're feeling down. That, while not being very comfortable, is the only advice that actually helps you change your life and get it together. But
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books such as The Waste Land by Eliot, you really see this theme of collective mass disillusionment come through after the war. The big question was, how are we supposed to live in a world of meaningless suffering and injustice? We
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despite this, Sartre still received a lot of criticism for his philosophy, to which he responded, "Their excessive protests make me suspect that what is annoying them is not so much our pessimism, but much more likely our optimism. For at the bottom, what is
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I say that man is condemned to be free. Condemned because he did not create himself, yet is nevertheless at liberty, and from the moment that he is thrown into this world, he is responsible for everything that he does." And this
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alarming in the doctrine that I'm about to try to explain to you is that it confronts man with a possibility of choice." This quote is from Existentialism as a Humanism, which is a lecture that was delivered by Sartre in
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It becomes a moral free-for-all. Dostoevsky once wrote, "If God did not exist, everything would be permitted." And for existentialists, that is exactly the starting point. Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist. So, what does this mean exactly? This idea
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1945, in which he responds to his critics to defend his philosophy, and even goes as far as calling it a humanism. Now, the term humanism has many different definitions, but it is generally understood as any philosophy that is towards the betterment of
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chair. A chair is only constructed with a specific purpose in mind. It is a thing to sit upon. So, when you create a chair and it fulfills that purpose, its existence has worth. However, in humans, we are born without a purpose. Our
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humanity. For a bit of context, existentialism was very much frowned upon at the time, and this is mainly because of Nietzsche. Now, Nietzsche was an existentialist, yet also a nihilist, which gave his flavor of existentialism a bit of a bitter, despairing taste.
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What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world, and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with,
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However, Sartre, who was also an existentialist, had completely rejected the notion of nihilism, and instead he calls his existentialism an optimistic doctrine of action. During Sartre's life, existentialism was becoming more popular as people found themselves in a world abandoned by God. If you read
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throughout life. Man simply is, not that he is simply what he conceives himself to be, but he is what he wills, and as he conceives himself after already existing. Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. And since
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books such as The Waste Land by Eliot, you really see this theme of collective mass disillusionment come through after the war. The big question was, how are we supposed to live in a world of meaningless suffering and injustice? We
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might think, "I am not free in my actions or choices because life limits me. What about my responsibilities, my socioeconomic position, my biology, upbringing, etc.?" And to all these very valid criticisms, Sartre replies, "Yes, and you are still free within those
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were given no choice in our own existence, yet we still have to decide what to make of that existence. And this is why Sartre says, "We are condemned to be free." He states, "We are left alone, without excuse. That is what I mean when
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a pagan society, or may be a feudal baron, or a proletarian. But what never vary are the necessities of being in the world and having to labor and to die there. Sartre even continues to define all the things that act as limitations
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I say that man is condemned to be free. Condemned because he did not create himself, yet is nevertheless at liberty, and from the moment that he is thrown into this world, he is responsible for everything that he does." And this
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still free to choose within those limitations. And all you need to do is ask yourself honestly, within your circumstances in life, are you doing everything you can to use the freedom of choice you have to its fullest? Are you
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freedom can be terrifying because if there is no external power over us, there's no divine justice, there's no purpose to life, then we alone are responsible for everything that we do.
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definitely limit us in our freedom. However, we are still free within our limitations. This is why you often see people from very similar backgrounds or upbringing end up on such different life paths. And this all comes down to
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It becomes a moral free-for-all. Dostoevsky once wrote, "If God did not exist, everything would be permitted." And for existentialists, that is exactly the starting point. Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist. So, what does this mean exactly? This idea
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for instance, is all the ways in which we refuse or avoid this responsibility. These are essentially the ways we self-sabotage because in avoiding our own freedom of choice, we limit ourselves and never become who we want to be. We often see this in
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of radical freedom comes from one of the core tenets of existentialism, which is that existence precedes essence. Essence is what Sartre uses to describe any sort of meaning or purpose. We can see this in things. Think of, for example, a
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brush it off saying, "Oh, it's how I am. I can't help it. It's just in my nature." This is an example of deterministic thinking, and I'm sure you can think of many people in your own life who act in these sort of ways. I'm
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chair. A chair is only constructed with a specific purpose in mind. It is a thing to sit upon. So, when you create a chair and it fulfills that purpose, its existence has worth. However, in humans, we are born without a purpose. Our
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We blame our choices on our nature, thus refusing responsibility for our actions. Because in reality, we are free in our choices. My friend was making the decision every time to be late, and through that defining herself as a
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existence comes first, and we create who we are, we create our essence throughout our lives. Sartre expands upon this.
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always procrastinate on assignments you get, and then because we've done this so many times in the past, we start to project this into our future, saying, "Oh, well, I'm a procrastinator. I'm not going to start on it until a few days
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What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world, and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with,
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either accept this and then choose to change our future behavior, or we can reject it and the burden of responsibility that comes with that freedom in favor for the miserable comfort of a fixed identity. And this is exactly why sometimes, even though we
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he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself. This is why we are born as a blank slate. We have no inherent fate or potential. We are entirely what we make of ourselves
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look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. What we want most isn't to be happy, it's to be comfortable. And then, very often, we end up making decisions in favor of our comfort that come at the cost of our happiness and fulfillment.
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throughout life. Man simply is, not that he is simply what he conceives himself to be, but he is what he wills, and as he conceives himself after already existing. Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. And since
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This is a form of self-deceit where there is a conflict between our imagined identity and our lived reality. Instead of viewing ourselves as the embodiment of all of our actions, we cling to this idea of who we want to be or who we
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existence precedes essence, then man is also entirely responsible for what he becomes in life. He is the sum of his life's actions, nothing more, nothing less. Now, at this point you might think, "What about the conditions of life that define or restrict us?" You
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Hence, we can well understand why some people are horrified by our teaching, for many have but one resource to sustain them in their misery, and that is to think, 'Circumstances have been against me. I was worthy to be something much better
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might think, "I am not free in my actions or choices because life limits me. What about my responsibilities, my socioeconomic position, my biology, upbringing, etc.?" And to all these very valid criticisms, Sartre replies, "Yes, and you are still free within those
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only meaningful if acted upon, otherwise, it is just a fantasy. And it's a fantasy that can trap us in this bubble because it gives us a sense of self-worth that our life doesn't.
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limitations." He acknowledges that we are restricted by certain conditions in life. By his condition, they understand all the limitations which a priori define man's fundamental situation in the universe. His historical situations are variable. Man may be born a slave in
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actually help us become this person. Because at the end of our life, we are only the things we have done. Sartre gives another example of this. "The genius of Proust is the totality of the works of Proust. The genius of Racine is
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a pagan society, or may be a feudal baron, or a proletarian. But what never vary are the necessities of being in the world and having to labor and to die there. Sartre even continues to define all the things that act as limitations
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own portrait, and there is nothing but that portrait. No doubt this thought may seem comfortless to one who has not made a success of his life." He also expands on this, which is, in my opinion, one of the best quotes of his from this
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that can restrict us, everything from our physical and mental capabilities, the historical time period we live in, and even acknowledges a psychoanalytic perspective on things that can influence our behavior and choices. However, none of this equals determinism, as we are
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him negatively, not positively. Nevertheless, when one says, 'You are nothing else but what you live,' it does not imply that an artist is to be judged solely by his works of art. For a thousand other things contribute no less
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still free to choose within those limitations. And all you need to do is ask yourself honestly, within your circumstances in life, are you doing everything you can to use the freedom of choice you have to its fullest? Are you
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the sternness of our optimism. You are therefore the sum of your actions, not your potential. And this is also why people hate it, because it confronts them with their choices. If you were to die tomorrow, then all of your choices
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making choices that benefit your health, your relationships, your passions, your happiness? Or are you avoiding this responsibility, making the same decisions and choices that keep you stuck in a life that you don't actually want to live? So, yes, situations
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dreams or potential, there is only what you have actually materialized in the world. And now ask yourself honestly, can you live with that? Do you feel you have truly lived? Do you feel you've become the person you want to be? Or is
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definitely limit us in our freedom. However, we are still free within our limitations. This is why you often see people from very similar backgrounds or upbringing end up on such different life paths. And this all comes down to
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pass the years always thinking in the future, always imagining all the things you could do and you want to be, but then when you actually step back and you think of it in this way, if today were the last day you have to live, who are
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individual choice and freedom. What Sartre describes as living in either good or bad faith. So, what does this mean? What is good or bad faith? Put simply, it describes how we react to the responsibility of freedom. Bad faith,
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actions. We cannot be remembered for our potential or who we wish to be or even our plans and ideas, we are only what we have done. And this is also why I believe we can become afraid of time
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for instance, is all the ways in which we refuse or avoid this responsibility. These are essentially the ways we self-sabotage because in avoiding our own freedom of choice, we limit ourselves and never become who we want to be. We often see this in
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then we would feel content, we would feel fulfilled as time passes, proud even to look at all that we have achieved. Now, let's look at good faith.
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deterministic thinking. For example, I used to have a friend who, anytime I would want to meet up with her, I would give her a time that wasn't our earlier, and she would still be late. And anytime I would bring this up, she would just
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his existence squarely upon his own shoulders. And when we say that man is responsible for himself, we do not mean that he is responsible for only his own individuality, but that he is responsible for all men. To choose
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brush it off saying, "Oh, it's how I am. I can't help it. It's just in my nature." This is an example of deterministic thinking, and I'm sure you can think of many people in your own life who act in these sort of ways. I'm
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unless it is better for all. I am thus responsible for myself and for all men, and I am creating a certain image of man as I would have him be. In fashioning myself, I fashion man." This is one of
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sure you can even spot deterministic thinking in yourself because it's something w
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so helpful because in an absurd and meaningless world, it is so easy to think "Well what is the point of anything? What does it matter if I live my life this way versus that? Why should I even strive to
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improve myself in the first place? What's the point?" In declaring each of us as a role model, responsible not just for ourselves, but for all others, too, we suddenly have a way to narrow down those limitless options, and we have a
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bit of a vision of what to do with our freedom. We must ask ourselves in every decision we make, "Is this how all of man should act? What kind of world would we live in if everyone did the same?"
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And this is exactly how, despite rejecting religion and institutional laws, Sartre says that we come to some universal rules to follow. For example, don't steal, don't lie, don't hurt other people. And it's because if everyone did all of these actions, it would be pure
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chaos. It would be anarchy. Therefore, in our own actions, in our own choices that we make, we are responsible for creating the world we want to live in.
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And I personally find this way of thinking very comforting in light of a lot of the bigger problems in the world.
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It often feels like we are helpless, we are powerless. Yet, the one thing we have absolute agency over is our own actions. And to think of our choices as setting an example for others, we can do good, we can inspire others, and through
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that change the world in the only way that we can. When you think about it, we learn from others what is good, what is normal, what is acceptable. Now, imagine your life if you were only surrounded by people who lived their own life to the
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highest moral standard, and they encouraged you to develop your morality as well, to always ask yourself, "Am I living in alignment with what I believe is the highest good?" This is why role models are incredibly important, and we
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underestimate just how much we can actually affect others. So, if you ever feel like your life is meaningless or doesn't matter, just recognize for a minute that your life, your actions, are completely in your hands, and that you
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can be a role model to all of those who can relate to you, who find themselves in similar situations. You can be the light that shows them there is a way.
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And this may sound really cheesy, but it really is that deep. I find this idea alone of shaping ourselves in the image of how we wish to shape humanity is incredibly inspiring. Sartre states, "So, every man ought to say, 'Am I
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really a man who has the right to act in such a manner that humanity regulates itself by what I do?'" This reminds me of a piece of advice that my father once gave me, which is that the only way to
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deal with frustrations and injustices in the world is to always do what you believe is right. That way, no matter what happens, everything else being outside of your control, you always have the reassurance that you are living according to your moral standard. You
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are responsible only for your own actions, and by living according to this good faith, you can at least never be disappointed with yourself. And finally, Sartre lays out the importance of creating our own Sisyphean task, picking our boulder, so to speak. He explains,
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"The only hope for man lies in his full realization and acceptance of the truth that these things are not otherwise but thus. And although his personal fate is simply to perish, he can triumph over it by inventing purposes, projects, which
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will themselves confirm meaning both upon himself and upon the world of objects, all meaningless otherwise in themselves. There is indeed no reason why a man should do this, and he gets nothing by it except the authentic knowledge that he exists." But that
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precisely is his great, his transcendent need and desire. Not many are capable thus of authenticating their existence.
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In this, he describes what he terms as engagement, which is the need to actively take part in life. We must create our own meaning in a meaningless existence, and to do this, we need to choose something to pursue and pursue it
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through all of its hardships. Now, if this sounds like Nietzsche's will to power, it's because in my opinion, it kind of is. Other philosophers have argued that because we have two types of desires, the desire to pursue our
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ambitions and the desire to actually obtain what it is we want, we can never be happy. However, Nietzsche claims that this very tension is where we find fulfillment. We need a game that we can never win to always be striving,
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overcoming challenges that grow increasingly more difficult as through them our own power increases. We essentially need a goal to pursue that we can never reach, yet are always progressing towards. That is how we can find fulfillment in our existence. And
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this is also exactly what Sartre means in engagement. It is pursuing meaningful goals. So, we need to create projects for ourselves. We need to do something creative to help others, to decide what kind of person we want to be, and to
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work towards becoming that. We need to set goals, even if it seems pointless, because all of these things, the pursuit of them, this is what gives our existence meaning. No one else can give it to us. It doesn't even exist unless
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we create it ourselves. Sartre states, "A life is nothing until it is lived." And perhaps a lot of us know this already. We feel it deep inside. It is that feeling of dread as time passes by.
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It is why we dream of potential and feel disappointed when we settle, because we know we haven't yet lived. Now, I want to give you a final quote of Sartre's to end this video with. "This is humanism, because we remind man that there's no
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legislator but himself, that he himself, thus abandoned, must decide for himself. Also, because we show that it's not by turning back upon himself, but by always seeking beyond himself an aim, which is one of liberation or of some particular
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realization, that man can realize himself as truly human." So, if you found any of this interesting, I really recommend checking out Existentialism as a Humanism. Like I said, it is a transcription of one of Sartre's lectures in which he defends
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his philosophy, and he explains why it is a optimistic philosophy, a doctrine of action, as he calls it. So, thank you so much for watching. I hope you've enjoyed this video. Let me know your thoughts or any questions in the
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comments, and I will see you next time. Bye.
Topics:Jean-Paul Sartreexistentialismfreedomresponsibilityexistence precedes essencebad faithnihilismphilosophymeaning of lifehumanism
