Burden of responsibility

Last week, we discussed “Existentialism is a Humanism” by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. I found Sartre’s work extremely interesting and definitely easier to comprehend than previous philosophical texts; simply because of his use of in-depth explanations and specific examples. I particularly enjoyed his take on the role of responsibility in our lives. Sartre writes “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself”. We have choice, we have subjectivity, and we choose what we will try to make ourselves out to be; we are entirely responsible for our existence. Sartre’s idea that human existence is characterized by transcendence also explains why he writes “if existence really does precede essence, [then] man is responsible for what he is.” Personally, I see Sartre’s philosophy serves as a motivational tool to make something out of existence. For let's face it, at the end of the day, your ideals aren’t what matter; what matters is what you actually did.