Jean-Paul Sartre lectured extensively promoting his belief in existentialism. The central tenant of existentialism, according to Sartre, is that existence precedes essence. He uses the analogy that if God exists, then he creates humans based on a concept just as a manufacturer manufactures scissors according to an established concept. However, Sartre said that God did not exist, so no concept of man exists but what man makes it. Sartre extended his philosophy to say that man always chooses what is good, or rather what is beneficial for himself, and because what is good for one man is good for man as a whole, it is good for humanity as a whole. Man creates its own subjective morals, because subjectiveness is the pillar of existentialism. But, because man is alone, he is responsible for all his choices. Sartre says this view is optimistic because it is defined by action, and is full of endless possibilities.
Sartre believed wholeheartedly that no God existed. The only situation where existence is the greatest success in the universe is that it is the only success in the universe. This rejection of God, and of all other a priori knowledge, allowed Sartre to make his claims logically. His arguments that he makes from his presuppositions are cogent, but he never attempts to prove his presuppositions. Furthermore, the optimism of Sartre is flawed. There is no optimism if man is truly alone in this infinite universe and just evolved randomly from simple chemicals.
Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf as the Bible of his beliefs during his imprisonment. He begins by making his case against Marxism by calling it unnatural. His case quickly turns to his personal vendetta against the Jews. Hitler calls the Jews “parasites” because they always live in other peoples’ lands and they “contaminate art and literature”. He then explains the importance of preserving the Aryan race and the Volk. Hitler says that it is the state’s responsibility to uphold and protect the dominance of the Aryan race. The state also must use propaganda to control its people. In the final section, Hitler makes that case that the borders of the Deutschland must be broadened to give room for the master race to expand.
While many of Hitler’s views are condemned as evil, and rightly so, he also had a keen perception of human nature. He was right in observing the importance of propaganda. He used man’s weakness of always following a great voice to rise to power and to remain in power. He also presents a legitimate argument against communism (He only presents it, his main case against Marxism is that it is supported by Jews). However, overall, Hitler’s views were clouded by his extreme hatred of other races, especially the Jews, and of his emotion rather than reason.
Sartre represented a final break from the reason and philosophy of history. His view of individual absolutism disagrees with every major philosopher in history. The ancient Greeks believed in the supremacy and authority of the gods. Socrates and Plato were the first to introduce the idea of an absolute Good. Christianity then emerged as the major philosophy for over a century. Humanism then grew out of the ideas of Erasmus and More. As the Roman Catholic Church began to absorb humanism, true Christianity reemerged under the leadership of Luther and Calvin. Then Descartes and Bacon rejected the absolute standards found in Christianity and used reason as an absolute. Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau continued to use reason as the absolute to guide Civilization until Immanuel Kant exposed its flaws. Darwin introduced the idea that man is just matter, and is just a result of nature which led to the emergence of Romanticism. Romanticism was the final attempt to find the absolute to guide Civilization. Dostoevsky and Nietzsche finished Darwin’s work of eliminating the idea of God. Finally, Sartre espoused the idea that existence is the foundation of everything. As Sartre showed, subjectivism and relativism are the foundations of existentialism. His ideas reflect the mechanistic worldview of Darwin. If we were truly just the result of billions of years of chance mutations, then existentialism would be correct, however we are each created in the image of God, and reflect his glory. Our existence and our essence together come from God. The existence of God and his essence has existed since the beginning when there was the “Word, who was with God and who was God.” God’s being is necessary to man because in him, and him alone, is eternal joy and glory.
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