A Rhetorical Analysis Of Paul Sartre's Existentialism

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According to the existentialist, man is not only responsible for his own actions and individuality but he is also responsible for all men. In Paul Sartre’s essay “Existentialism,” Sartre uses both the Toulmin argument and the Rogerian Argument to defend and support his beliefs about Existentialism. Sartre argues that “if existence really does precede essence”(1229), people are responsible for their own actions and who they are as an individual. There is no greater urges outside of oneself because humans are simply here and they alone can define themselves. Sartre persuades his audience to agree with his arguments through the use of ethical appeals and anecdotes to support his claims while at the same time establishing common ground with Christians …show more content…

The student needed to decide if he would stay in France with his mother who depended on him or join the the Free French forces and fight to his country. Sartre uses the Toulmin method to convince the reader that the idea of existentialism is superior to Christian doctrines and Kantian ethics. He explains that even though Christians would advise his student to choose love and charity, this does little to help since the student still has to decide if he should show more love to his mother or his country. Kantian ethics teaches its followers to “never treat any persons as a means, but as an end”(Sartre 1234). Sartre argues that if the student stays with his mother, he will be treating her as an end. However, the student still risks treating those who are fighting in …show more content…

Contrary to popular belief, existentialism does not focus on trying to argue whether God exists or not. Sartre makes some allusions to religion to make a connection with Christian readers. He shares another anecdote about a young Jesuit man who felt like he messed everything up on his life. “He very wisely looked upon all this as a sign that he was not made for secular triumphs”(Sartre 1235). Sartre understands that the man believed that God had a hand in all the hardships in his life. However, Sartre argues that it is obvious that the young Jesuit man was the only one who decided what that sign meant. He alone interpreted his hardships as a sign from

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