Sartre's Position

Sartre's metaphysical position is simply stated in three easy words; Existence precedes Essence. What does this mean? It means that we have no predetermined nature or essence that controls what we are, what we do, or what is valuable for us. We are radically free to act independently of determination by outside influences. We create our own human nature through these free choices. We also create our values through these choices. With the existentialist view we understand that we are thrown into existence first without a predetermined nature and only later do we construct our nature or essence through our actions. This Opposes the traditional view of Essence precedes Existence, according to which we are seen as having a given nature that determines what we are and what our ultimate purpose or value is. We are understood by analogy to artifacts which are made with a pre-existing idea or concept of what they will be and what they will be good for.

With there being no pre-existing idea or concept of our human nature, we are free to live our lives as we wish with no "Moral Truths" telling us wether or not our actions are right or wrong. A problem one could encounter with this concept is; If our only moral rule is to act authentically, to choose our own values instead of taking them from external sources, can't we do anything we want, no matter how evil or selfish? The solution to this problem comes in three parts the first is that in choosing our own nature we must choose human nature for all of humanity. In order to act freely, we must not let our actions be determined by our particular desires or interests. We must act as any free agent would act, in other words we must act as we would like other people to act. Secondly, in order to be free ourselves, we must desire the freedom of other people. To treat another person merely as an object for my use is to make an object of myself. To be free I must respect the freedom of others.