Philosophy

Philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Buber both emphasize how the presence of others in our lives and the bonds which we create with them define who we are and affects our self-perception. Both have their own theory of how this occurs. I will begin by discussing Sartre’s perspective on the subject, and Buber’s stance will follow.
First, we will learn what Sartre’s “Bad Faith and Falsehood” teaches us. Sartre defines “consciousness” as a being conscious of its nothingness. He explains that humans start from zero (birth), and that the actions taken throughout our development take us from being nothing to being something. Humans have the capacity to deny themselves, we tend to negate what we are and to aspire for what we have yet to become. Close attention has to be given to the term of “bad faith”, since it can result to be highly deceitful. Before going into bad faith we should have clear idea of what “falsity” and “falsehood” mean. Falsity describes all forms of consciously lying. In other words, when a person is aware of the truth but expresses a contradicting thought. Falsehood, on the other hand, is a neutral lie committed out of ignorance. It can be considered an unintentional lie, since the person has to be fully aware of the truth in order to lie. These two forms of lying are what Sarte distinguishes as “lying in general”. Now that we have a better idea of what falsity and falsehood are, let’s approach the idea of what it consists to be in bad faith.
Starting off with a concrete example of bad faith will help visualize its connotation in a more effective way. An upcoming freshman, who has struggled fitting in with his peers in the past, enters a new high school where he has no acquaintances. This individual...

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...re able to meet ourselves; thus finding meaning in life.
Therefore, we can conclude that what is meaningful can only be acquired through what is real. Connection to an object is not real connection at all. We can only have connection with another being. It is only in this connection where a true sharing of our essence is possible. An individual who remains in the I-It experience, will never fully develop his own person and his life will never attain a true meaning. However, this relationship with the one another is not found by searching for it, rather it happens by chance. The problem is that by seeking it we are susceptible to a predisposition similar to the way we desire an object converting it to an I-It relationship. We find the Thou by allowing it to occur freely, in this way there are no assumptions or expectations and a real connection can be made.