Who Is the Real Existentialist? Debunking Sartre’s Distinction between Christian and Atheistic Existentialists
- 1 El Camino College, Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, California, USA
Abstract
In Sartre’s 1946 article “The Humanism of Existentialism,” Sartre places existentialists into two categories, Christian or atheist, and contends that existentialism works differently for each of them. This paper argues that such a distinction should not have been made because existentialist beliefs, views, and themes do not differ based on one’s religiosity. This paper specifically examines three examples in Sartre’s article which undermine his position, and further argues that Sartre made an equivocation fallacy by conflating two different types of essence, one’s innate essence and one’s character essence. The paper then explores six central existentialist themes to demonstrate that in their existentialist beliefs both the theist and the atheist agree. Those six themes are authenticity, sincerity vs. bad faith, the absurdity of life, the meaning of life, choice, and responsibility. The paper also examines the issue of moral objectivity vs. non-objectivity, and argues that not only is this not an existentialist issue, but even if it were one’s belief on moral objectivity does not cleanly correspond to one’s religious beliefs, so here again there is no basis to distinguish the Christian and the atheist. The paper concludes that any disagreement between existentialists who are Christian and those who are atheist comes down to differences in their religious beliefs, not their existentialist views.
- Allen, E. L. (1953a). Existentialism and Christian Theology. Hibbert Journal: A Quarterly Review of Religion, Theology, and Philosophy, 42, 40-47.
- Allen, E. L. (1953b). Existentialism from Within: A New and Christian Approach to the Interpretation of Existentialism. The MacMillan Company.
- Anderson, T. (2010). Atheistic and Christian Existentialism: A Comparison of Sartre and Marcel. Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications, 154, 1-24.
- Beauvoir, S. (1949). The Second Sex. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., pp. 296-307, Parshley, H. M. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Camus, A. (1942a). The Stranger. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., pp. 184-187, Gilbert, S. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Camus, A. (1942b). The Myth of Sisyphus. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., pp. 187-198). Oxford University Press.
- Camus, A. (1951). The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt. Alfred A. Knopf.
- Dostoevsky, F. (1880). The Brothers Karamazov. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., pp. 48-64, Barnett, C. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Firestone, R. S. (2017). An Argument for Libertarian Free Will: Hard Choices Based on either Incomparable or Equally Persuasive Reasons. Open Journal of Philosophy, 7, 64-93. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2017.71005
- Heidegger, M. (1927). Being and Time. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., pp. 117-146, Stambaugh, J. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Heidegger, M. (1935). Introduction to Metaphysics. In L. Pojman (Ed.), Classics of Philosophy: The Twentieth Century (Vol. III, pp. 480-497, Mannheim, R. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Kierkegaard, S. (1843). Either/Or. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., pp. 8-14, Swenson, D. & Swenson, L. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Kierkegaard, S. (1846). Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., pp. 17-23, Martin, C. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Kierkegaard, S. (1854-1855). Attack upon Christendom. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., p. 23, Martin, C. Trans.). Oxford University Press.
- Kierkegaard, S. (1855a). Kierkegaard’s Letters. In R. Solomon (Ed.), Existentialism (2nd ed., p. 33, Martin, C. Trans.). Oxford University Press.