JEAN PAUL SARTRE’S EXISTENTIALISM AND HOW IT NOURISHES THE LGBTQ+ VIEWS
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Date
2022-12-10
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
In this paper the writer tries to give us a detailed analysis of how existential philosophy of
Jean-Paul Sartre promotes the mushrooming ideas of LGBTQ+. From general existentialism
of Soren Kierkegaard, Jasper's and Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre goes into extreme, and among
other aspects takes atheism to a higher level. The dictum existence precedes essence is so
helpful to him in denial of any appeals of the existence of God. Also, Jean-Paul Sartre leads
us to destruction of traditional sexual morality, because of his idea of subjectivity. Jean-Paul
Sartre claims that subjectivity is inescapable, as he says; I create myself, I establish myself, and my own morality. Unfortunately, this philosophy is not just limited to ideas because ideas
lead to action. It even crosses to how people treat their bodies. From the earliest myths of the
ancient societies of Greeks, Indians and Americans, who recognised transsexualism, to the
Roman myths, to how these phenomena unfolded in Europe, until modern times. What used
to be heard of in myths is becoming a common talk of day-to-day news and conversations. The writer tries to analyse the extent to which the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre has
infiltrated the society with a special interest in sexual morality. Morality is not absolutely
independent of science, but Jean-Paul Sartre did not believe in science, because it is too
abstract and to him it does not answer the questions of the common man. More so, he does
not believe in a traditional morality which he says is just an imposition on us. Even the so- called human nature, he dismisses claiming that there is no such a thing, but just social
establishment. Man was not made with a purpose, but he determines it himself since existence
precedes essence. Man determines what his life becomes in all realms, whether social, political, religious, economic etc. Man has the freedom to do as he wills, and as we see in this
essay, he can go as far as the body and biological makeup is concerned. This is why after
destroying morality and religion, and assuming total freedom, the philosophy of Jean-Paul
Sartre is at the foundation of destroying sexual biology and ethics. As far as the issue of
transgenderism is concerned, Jean-Paul Sartre may not have said anything directly but his
ideas of ‘man creating himself’ is surely at the foundation of it. If one doesn't believe in God
or science and nature, he/she will not see it wrong to reach the extent of mutilating his/her
body. It would be okay to try to change your gender. Since man determines what he becomes, it is okay for one to cut off his male organ and create the female one and vice versa. This may
sound insane but gender manipulation is becoming a serious issue especially stemming from
Europe and America, but as you know that we live in a global village and these moral
dilemmas never spare us we are Africans cannot say that we are safe. Similar explanation can
be applied to homosexuality. There are male homosexuals but also female homosexuals. Male homosexuals are commonly called gays while female ones are usually called lesbians. Attraction towards the same sex is not a new phenomenon as it is also found in ancient Greek
mythology and Eastern mythology as discussed in chapter 3 of this essay. Also, it appears in
both the new and old testaments of the Bible. However, what is common everywhere it
appears is that, it was always punishable is a by God (or gods) or by the society. Then there
are those who are bisexual and one would say that they don't care about the sex they are
attracted to. They are in other words loose heterosexuals or loose homosexuals. Some are
sexually confused and are called queer. All these ideologies and behaviours fall flat when
they face the natural law. Natural law affirms the nature of man/woman and again affirms
sexual morality of man being attracted to the opposite sex as discussed in Chapter 4. With the
natural law, it is forbidden to have your body mutilated in order to change your sex. The
recognition of this problem however calls us to seek a solution since the problem is still here. One wonders if we are to keep quiet about it and assume that nothing is happening or we are
to become counter activists since there are already numerous LGBTQ+ activists trying to
spread it even here in Africa.
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JEAN PAUL SARTRE’S EXISTENTIALISM AND HOW IT NOURISHES THE LGBTQ+ VIEWS