"Everything has been figured out, except how to live."- John Paul Sartre

Biography

"If he was not always honest, it was partly because honesty was a luxury he could not afford"- Hayman

• born in Paris in 1905

• studies at the Ecole Normal Superieure from 1924 to 1929

• With  the help of Stepend from the institute of Francaise he studied in Berlin(1932) the philosophies of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger.

• He Became professor of Philosophy at Le Havre in 1931

• After further teaching at Le Harve, and then in Laon, he taught at the lycee Pastour in Paris from 1937 to 1939

• Since the end of the second war, he has been living as an independent writer

• He died in 1980

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1964/sartre-bio.html

Jean Paul Sartre's Philosophy

"Existence precedes essence"-Jean Paul Sartre

• Tried not only to write about and understand the events of his life, but also use his fame to further a range of left wing causes.

• Worked to define what it meant to be human based on existential ideas

Existentialism

'"It is mainly through the work of Jean-Paul Sartre that existentialism has come to the attention of a wide international audience"- Walter Kaufmann

• Sartre is considered one of the primer existentialists.

• Existentialism is the belief that humans have complete control over their own actions

  • the counter belief is that human existence is controlled by fate, divinity, or the cause and effect of reality.

  • this means that only an individual can define who they are personally with no outside influence like society or the media.

• Despite our total self control, existentialist belief is that we live in an "absurd" or uncaring universe.

  • this means that no matter if you were a saint or a criminal, there is a chance that some random tragedy could befall you

• because the universe is absurd, it is the responsibility of the individual to find a reason to justify their existence
•  

Definition of Human

• argued that consciousness had two parts, in-itself and for-itself

• in-itself refers to a beings intrensic qualities without any foreign influence

  • Definition based on in-itself are unaffected by things like society, parents, religion, etc

  • Inanimate objects are wholly defined by in-itself

• for-itself refers to a beings definition of self through relation with other things

  • The result of for-itself identification is a lack of self identity, looking to society to define us rather than defining ourselves

  • For-itself comes from one's awareness of their own consciousness.

• He also argued that the definition of self is endangered by others.

  • When others see and judge a person, they will impose a definition upon them, this can lead to a damaging of that person's our self definition through contradiction.

  • He also argued that we must be careful not to be a danger to others definitions, basically that we should not judge people based on stereotypes or first impressions.

• "Existence precedes essence", this famous quote states that one's definition comes from their actions rather than their claims.

  • An example being a student who claims not to have cheated, but in reality did, is still a cheater.

“Being is. Being is in-itself. Being is what it is.” - Sartre

Freedom

 It is only in our decisions that we are important. - Jean Paul Sartre

• Argued that dispute influences on our self-definition, we are always free, not matter the situation.

• No matter how strong an influence society is, we always have the potential to realize our own freedom of choice.

  • Because we have complete control of our actions, we can always refused to do something that society would force us into.

• Argued that even if one were locked in the perfect cage, one still has control over their own thoughts, and thus has freedom.

• With this freedom also comes complete responsibility for our actions.

  • Because we have absolute control over our actions, one can not claim they were forced to do something.

  • An example being a German soldier in WWII can not claim he had no choice but to kill Jews because he always could have chosen to refuse order.

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.” - Jean Paul Sartre

Views on Euthanasia

Sartre would argue that it is always someone's personal freedom to do as they chose.  Looking at his description at how people define themselves, he would argue that it is absolutely necessary for one to have freedom from oppressive influence and control. - Nick

I agree with Nick, I feel as though Sartre was a strong advocate of someone's right to their own decisions, and that only under the most extreme of circumstances that that should be compromised, and that euthanasia was nothing more than a mere decision of a person, and that the state had no right to interfere with that. - Jimmy

Sources 

http://www.iep.utm.edu/s/sartre-ex.htm#H3  

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=6657

www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jeanpaul_sartre.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre

Sparknotes 101 philosophy.  Spark educational publishing.  2005