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......

Join Now to view the rest of this term paper!
Members: Login to view this research paper.

Title: Sartre's Position
Approximate Word Count: 466
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)

With the Term Papers Lab Membership Pass, you get instant access to every essay on this site, including this essay on Sartre's Position, for as long as you remain a member.

Other essays sites charge almost $100 for a single term paper. At Term Papers Lab, you can get instant access to over 100,000 research papers for as little as $29.95!