Being and Nothingness

“We must not conceive of this determination of consciousness by itself as a genesis, or a becoming, because that would require us to suppose that consciousness is prior to its own existence.”

This passage provides the foundation for Sartre’s theories of being-in-itself versus being-for-itself. He argues that human consciousness is being-for-itself, meaning that because they exist, they have consciousness—the two emerge simultaneously. Sartre is speaking directly to the philosophy of Aristotle, which provided the basis for understanding consciousness up until this point. Consciousness was viewed as something that was endowed by God, and self-knowledge was refined by the position of the self in relation to all other things.

“Being is not one ‘structure among others,’ a moment of the object: it is the very condition of all structures and all moments; it is the foundation on which the characteristics of the phenomenon will be made manifest.”

In this quotation, Sartre is referencing Hegel’s theories on the relationship between the abstract and the concrete. He argues that all things contain both their being and their negation. Humans are, at once, both being and nothingness. Rather than reducing existence to an essence or set of essences, Sartre argues that existence is all-encompassing, and that existence precedes essence. Life and human action are built upon a foundation of being, and this creates essence. This idea connects to The Myth of Essence and Identity. Sartre proposes that humans are not endowed with an essence before or at the time of birth; instead, essence and purpose are developed over time.

"Here, then, is nothingness encircling being on every side and at the same time expelled from being; here nothingness is given as the means by which the world acquires its contours as a world.”

Human-reality emerges simultaneously with existence. Humans are immediately made aware of the world around them and their place within it. However, Sartre suggests that the world is held by nothingness, carried by its own meaninglessness. Therefore, both being and nothingness emerge at the same time. This corresponds with the theme Ways of Being. Sartre suggests that the human condition is one of being and negation, but these are not opposing forces. Instead, they are co-existing and, in many ways, the same thing. He argues that the uncovering of this fact leads to anguish.

“The situation cannot be the same for bad faith, if this latter really is—as we have said—a lie to oneself. Of course, for the person exercising bad faith, it is still a matter of covering up an unpleasant truth or of presenting some pleasant error as the truth.”

In this passage, Sartre compares the concept of “bad faith” to the concept of “lying.” Although the two resemble one another, they are not the same. When a person lies, that deceit is directed toward another person. Bad faith is a lie told to one’s own self. This idea corresponds to the theme The Importance of Authenticity. Sartre suggests that humans are condemned to live in a meaningless world with an abundance of freedom to make choices based upon their own free will. To live in bad faith is to lie to one’s own consciousness about the meaning and purpose of one’s own life.

“If man is what he is, bad faith is forever impossible and candor ceases to be his ideal and becomes instead his being: but is it the case that man is what he is and, in general, how can one be what one is, when one’s way of being is to be conscious of being?”

Sartre reveals several paradoxes in human existence and in his own philosophies. Here, he argues that the only remedy to bad faith is to live authentically, or with sincerity. To live with sincerity means to make choices based upon who one is, but this is difficult to do when one is not born with a specific essence or purpose. Sartre proposes that sincerity is something that is formed over time; it is created. One learns to live authentically and to become who one is as one makes decisions for oneself.

“Any study of human-reality must begin with the cogito. But the standpoint of Descartes’s ‘I think’ conceives of temporality in terms of instants.”

Sartre's criticism of Descartes’s famous line, “I think, therefore I am,” is not the accepted ideology of knowledge of the self as a part of consciousness. Instead, he challenges the idea of knowledge of the self as an object. Since Sartre embraces the phenomenological approach set forth by Husserl, he does not view knowledge of the self as something that can be understood through appearance. This quotation aligns with the theme Ways of Being. Sartre argues that consciousness is not defined in terms of the simple knowledge of one’s own existence. Instead, it requires a presence of self.

“It goes without saying that I remain free, in my reflective consciousness, to direct my attention toward these values or to overlook them.”

In this quotation, Sartre hints at his ideas about The Importance of Authenticity. He argues that humans have the opportunity to reflect—to look back on their own consciousness and the values that have been presented to them—and to make a choice. For Sartre, this choice should come from a place of sincerity, as this is the only way to avoid making choices in bad faith.

“Now, if we place ourselves in the midst of the world, we lose all possibility of distinguishing between what is no longer and what is not.”

Sartre dismisses the linear construction of time known as temporality (See: Index of Terms). He argues that this approach to time limits the understanding of humans about their own consciousness. Temporality fixates people in the now and makes both the past and the future external constructions that have nothing to do with the present. Sartre’s theory centers on the plurality of time, which he views in connection with The Importance of Authenticity. By separating the present from its past and future, humans are limited in their ability to make decisions based on their own personal judgments of value.

“If at first we have confined the present within the present, it goes without saying that it will never get out of it.”

Sartre proposes that temporality traps humanity in the present. He presents instead the concept of pluralities of temporality. Human consciousness cannot be separated from the role of time, nor can it be divided into three distinct parts: past, present, and future. All aspects of time contribute to consciousness. A person inhabits their past, as well as their present, and their own determination of the future enables them to have the freedom to make decisions and to act with free will.

“The only kind of knowledge is intuitive. Deduction and discourse, which are incorrectly labeled as ‘knowledge,’ are only instruments leading to intuition.”

At the heart of Sartre’s argument about transcendence is the idea that knowledge is only intuitive. He connects the idea of essences to the concept of the pre-reflective cogito. Sartre suggests that connecting consciousness to the knowledge of the self implies predetermined essence. He offers awareness to replace this concept. This quotation connects to the theme The Myth of Essence and Identity. Rather than knowledge of existence emerging at the same time as existence, humans have awareness, which leads to consciousness.

“We must dissociate ourselves at this point from an illusion that can be formulated in these terms: in order to constitute oneself as not being this or that being, we must first in some way or other have some knowledge of that being, because I am unable to judge how I differ from a being about which I know nothing.”

Sartre continues to emphasize the role of negation in awareness of one’s own existence. He calls the idea of the pre-reflective cogito an “illusion.” If Sartre could restructure Descartes’ famous saying, “I think, therefore I am,” it would be altered to “I am aware, therefore I am.” Sartre replaces knowledge with awareness and argues that all knowledge is intuitive. His ideas in this chapter correspond with the theme The Myth of Essence and Identity.

“Now, the Other is the indispensable intermediary between me and myself as I appear to the Other.”

This passage presents an extra dimension to The Myth of Essence and Identity. The Other presents a unique problem to the being-for-itself. Its very existence causes the being-for-itself to question itself by comparison and to feel shame or other emotions that act like consciousness. The existence of the Other renders the being-for-itself as an object, something to be judged and evaluated.

“‘Being-seen-by-the-Other' is the truth of seeing the Other.”

Perception contributes to consciousness. Sartre argues in this passage that when one is perceived by someone else—the Other—one is made aware of the consciousness of the Other. This is because perception makes humans aware of when they are being judged and assessed by other people.

“But, quite simply, because I who am a man have seen men’s corpses dissected, and because I have read physiological tracts, I conclude that my body is constituted exactly like all those I have been shown on a dissection table.”

The problem with the body is that knowledge of the body is reflective: Humans often make assumptions about the existence of their own bodies based upon their observance of other bodies. Sartre uses himself as an example in this quotation. He suggests that because he has seen the inner workings of cadavers, he makes assumptions about the physical reality of his own body. This idea connects to The Myth of Essence and Identity. Sartre argues that conceptions of the self and of consciousness are too often associated with observation than actual awareness.

“Such is the notion of sensation. We can see its absurdity. In the first place, it is purely invented.”

In this chapter, Sartre focuses on the body and how the self can never fully gain an awareness of one’s physical being. He connects this idea with the philosophical principle of absurdism and illustrates the point with the example of the eye. One cannot turn the eye toward oneself to perceive one’s own eye. It is physically impossible. The only way to obtain awareness is through the perception of the Other.

“For the Other, I am irremediably what I am, and my freedom itself is a property added to my being.”

The presence and perception of the Other is what creates freedom. Humans are made aware of the self through their perception with, of, and by the Other. This awareness leads to freedom of choice. However, Sartre argues that freedom is a form of damnation: Humans are offered a plethora of choices that can be enacted upon by free will, but all those choices lead only to meaninglessness.

“I can choose myself, as I arise in the world, as looking back at the looking other, and build my own subjectivity upon the collapse of the other’s subjectivity.”

This quotation hints at Sartre’s larger answer to the problem of absurdism. Existentialism suggests that existence and the world are meaningless. However, one can counteract the purposelessness of being through authenticity, as illustrated in the theme The Importance of Authenticity. Sartre proposes using the Other to constitute the self and make choices based upon one’s own mind rather than the perception or relationship with the Other.

“A choice like this, made in the absence of any support, and which dictates its motives to itself, may appear absurd—and indeed it is.”

As Sartre discusses the role of freedom in existence, he recognizes that many of the choices made by individuals are representative of absurdism, as outlined in The Importance of Authenticity. Humans may make choices based upon love or tyranny or any other form of human possession or desire, and Sartre argues that those choices are made in bad faith. They are absurd. They fail to recognize the meaninglessness of life and instead utilize a false sense of purpose, which offers the appearance of importance.

“Whatever it may be, the history of a life is a history of a failure.”

This nihilistic quotation represents another aspect of absurdism. Despite advocating that humans should do their best to live authentically, Sartre recognizes that this is fundamentally impossible in the light of the human-reality. People will always make decisions that are not authentic and based on external senses of meaning. It is inescapable. For example, one must always pay rent with money. Although one can understand that the concept of money is false and absurd, one has no choice but to submit to external force.

“Of course we have shown that the past has no power to constitute the present and to sketch out the future in advance.”

Along with other ideas like space and death, Sartre suggests that the past will always contribute to issues of freedom and The Importance of Authenticity. While one can make choices about how they are affected by the past, they cannot exercise their free will on how the Other perceives the present self within the context of the past. These concepts create absurdism and disable the individual from ever exercising a total freedom of power.

“A first look at human-reality informs us that, in its case, being can be reduced by doing.”

Doing, like desire and the Other, is an important part of consciousness. Human existence and being are further established by action and the choices of the individual. This idea corresponds with Ways of Being. Sartre proposes that being is far more than previously thought of in philosophical circles; it encompasses so many aspects of life that were always considered to be independent of consciousness.

“To be a man is to aim to be God; or, alternatively, man is fundamentally the desire to be God.”

Being and Nothingness relies on the concept of negation and its importance to the concept of being. Humans are what they are because of their negation. This means that they are also constantly aware of what they lack. Sartre suggests that a fundamental desire of all humanity is to be God, meaning to be able to make choices with total freedom and independence of any other force.

“The bond of possession is an internal bond of being.”

Sartre proposes that all desire is also a form of possession because it is intrinsically connected to negation. When a human seeks to possess another human, they internalize the being-for-itself as an object, and it becomes a part of the consciousness of the self. This idea relates to both Ways of Being and The Importance of Authenticity.