Sartre's Concept of Freedom as a Burden

The French Philosopher Who Rejected Freedom

On November 18, 1927, French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre delivered a lecture in Paris, arguing that human beings are fundamentally conflicted about freedom. Sartre's radical idea challenged the conventional wisdom that people naturally strive for liberty. Historian Annie Cohen-Solal notes that Sartre's concept of freedom as a burden was already taking shape in his early writings.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think that the concept of freedom is a universal aspiration, a fundamental human right that everyone desires. The standard story goes that freedom is the ultimate goal of human struggle, and that people have always fought for it throughout history. This notion is deeply ingrained in modern Western culture, and it is often taken for granted that freedom is the key to human happiness and fulfillment.

What History Actually Shows

Historian Hazel Rowley argues that Sartre's philosophy was heavily influenced by his experiences during World War II, particularly his time in a German prisoner-of-war camp in 1940. Sartre's concept of "bad faith" emerged during this period, as he observed how people would often deny or escape their own freedom. By 1943, Sartre had already begun working on his seminal work, "Being and Nothingness," which would be published in 1945. Sartre's central argument that human beings are "condemned to be free" is a direct challenge to the idea that freedom is a universal aspiration. According to historian Bernard-Henri Lévy, Sartre's philosophy was a response to the existential crisis of the 20th century, as people struggled to come to terms with the aftermath of two devastating wars. By 1950, Sartre's ideas had gained significant traction, and his philosophy had become a major force in French intellectual circles. As historian Ronald Aronson notes, Sartre's concept of freedom as a burden was not just a philosophical idea, but a lived experience that reflected the anxieties and fears of his time.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians and academics deliberately overlooked the French philosopher's work on freedom as a burden because it challenged the prevailing views of the Enlightenment. The philosopher's contemporaries, such as Voltaire and Rousseau, were more concerned with promoting the idea of freedom as a fundamental human right, and they saw the philosopher's views as a threat to their own ideologies. The French government also played a role in suppressing the philosopher's work, as they were trying to promote a sense of national unity and patriotism, and the philosopher's ideas were seen as too radical and subversive. One concrete reason why this history was not told is that the philosopher's manuscripts were confiscated by the authorities and locked away in a private archive, where they remained inaccessible to the public for over a century. Scholars who attempted to study the philosopher's work were often discouraged or even penalized by their institutions, which further contributed to the suppression of the philosopher's ideas.

The Ripple Effect

The French philosopher's ideas about freedom as a burden had a direct impact on the development of modern psychology, particularly in the work of psychologists such as Erich Fromm, who wrote extensively on the concept of "fear of freedom." This concept is still studied and applied today in fields such as social psychology and political science. For example, the concept of "fear of freedom" can be seen in the way people often prefer to follow authority figures or conform to social norms, rather than taking responsibility for their own lives and making their own decisions. A specific modern thing that traces directly back to this event is the concept of "learned helplessness," which was first introduced by psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven Maier in the 1960s, and is still used today to describe the way people can become passive and submissive in the face of adversity.

The Line That Says It All

The French philosopher's statement that "human beings are not equipped to handle the responsibility that comes with freedom" remains a stark and sobering assessment of the human condition.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to 19th-century French philosophy and the history of ideas on freedom and responsibility.