Every day, we are confronted with countless choices – choices that have no definite answer. The French existentialist philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, wrote that there is no absolute moral code, and that even if we do have an agreed-upon set of moral rules in our society, every individual must then interpret these rules. Sartre writes that we are all “condemned to be free,” and our morality is defined through the choices we make as free beings. We must choose our own morality, and accept the responsibility that falls upon us when we realize this.
The primary criterion for moral action that Sartre gives is authenticity, or the ability to make choices without excuses. We often try to justify and separate ourselves from the choices we make, even though they define who we are. Everyone is guilty of this form of self-deception. Consider the student who looks in the mirror one day and decides that they need to get in better shape. We have all been there at some point in our life, and we justify our lack of exercise by maintaining that we had no choice in the matter. “I couldn’t get to the gym because of school,” or “I couldn’t run because of the weather.” In justifying to ourselves in this way, we are separating our mind, our consciousness, from the choice we make. We choose to lie to ourselves as if there never was a choice: It is not as if you are choosing not to exercise, external factors just stopped you on your path to physical fitness, and you say, “Perhaps next week, the world will allow me to begin exercising.” We throw reality under the bus to avoid taking responsibility for the fact that we always had the freedom to choose how we live our life.
These patterns occur everywhere in our lives. When our actions deny the truth, we find ourselves living out a sort of contradiction between our beliefs and our actions. Perhaps you feel that eating meat is wrong, yet you do not become a vegetarian. Perhaps you say, “I always smoke when I drink,” yet deny that you still made the choice to smoke that cigarette. We separate our transcendent self from the material self that is acting within the world. For Sartre, we are our choices and actions, and they define who we are. We are free, therefore we cannot make excuses for our choices and ourselves, and we must live authentically and accept our freedom.
It is important to take responsibility for every choice that you make, and accept that it was your choice all along. We must take a look at ourselves every once in awhile, and ask if we are being authentic in all the choices we face in our life. Are you taking responsibility for the way you exist within the world, and for the fact that it is you who is responsible for the path you take? When you accept these responsibilities, you realize the true power that every individual has in shaping who they are.
To live authentically is not easy. Søren Kierkegaard wrote about how the existential choices of life lead to anxiety, which he called “the dizziness of freedom.” Anxiety is the recognition of the profound responsibility our freedom gives us. While Sartre’s theory is commonly described as pessimistic, it is also inspirational. If we recognize the freedom that is found in all the choices we make, and take responsibility for them, every one of us can live a happier, more authentic life.