turn led to the development of substantially different positions on the self,

the two views, as noted, exhibit similarity in spirit.

Sartre's Perspective on the Self

A commonplace criticism of Sartre is that since he discusses a human being
in terms of a nonsubstantial nothingness, he adopts a nihilistic position on
the self. This criticism appears to be valid given that Sartre, in describing the
sclf, uses such phrases as "a human being is a nothingness," "in human be-
ings existence comes before essence," "human being is a non-substantial
being," "a human being is a transcendence of being," and "a human being is
an openness." Tbcsc descriptions, which highlight the difficulty of grasping
the true nature of the self, might sidetrack the reader into thinking that
Sartre has norhing of significance to say about the subject. However, a close
reading of the text of Being clad Nothingness revcats that Sartrc"s fnvcstiga-
tion of the self is much richer than has beell believed by some critics.
Before presenting his own position, Sartre evnluated the traditional view
of the sclf. In the West, when the word self is used, it has been understood ci-
ther as an essence or as a common nature possessed by all human beings.
Those who believe that human beings are born with an essence are guided by
the artistic model of the universe. According to this vim, God creates the
universe the way an artist creates a painting. Before the world and human
beings come to be, tlzey are already conceived by God. And like an artist,
God utilizes a preconceived notion and a technique to bring the world and
human beings into existence. Thus a human being who is created by God has
a preordained purpose and a definition. The goal of life consists in bringing
this divine seed to its fruition. Therefore, sclf equals the actualization of this
potential d i ~ i ~essence.
le
In the West, a second view identifies self with human nature. According to
this view, every person is born with a human nature. l r r f i p e c t k ~of one's
cultural upbringing, educational training, and intellectual or social status,
each human being is a particular instance of a universal concept. The primi-
tive man, the slave, the serf, the worker, the capitalist, the bourgeois, the
king, the pauper, the artist, the genius, the high& cultured person, and the
ordinary human being-all share the samc d e h i t i o n and fundamental quali-
ties. Thus, every human being is made from the samc mold and subsfancc
called the human nature.
But Sartre rejects both of these positions by asserting that, since there is
no God, a human being is born with no essence or nacure, 2'be sclf that is
identified with either of these is then reduced to a nothingness.
Sartre draws the following inferences from this position. First, a human
being at birth possesses no substantial self; second, one's life has no preor-
dained purpose or direction; third, one's future is an open book on which