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Sartre believed that as human beings we are free to make our own decisions and choices (free will). This belief rejects the argument that states that life is pre-determined because of past events (determinism). In other words our everyday actions are the result of other causes.

Being and Consciousness

Sartre rationalises this notion of human freedom by explaining his thoughts on consciousness (phenomology). Firstly, Sartre described two different types of beings' in the world;

Being-for-itself (etre-pour-soi): Sartre's term for any being capable of self-consciousness.
Being-in-itself (etre-en-soi): Sartre's term for anything that lacks self-consciousness.

Another characteristic of the being-for-itself (humans) is the ability to project themselves in the future or to reassess their past. Also, being-for-itself have the ability to recognise when something is absent.

For example if you arranged to meet a friend at a caf but he does not arrive then his absence is felt. You could list all the people you know who weren't in the caf, but it will only be your friend who you would genuinely miss. Sartre describes this absence or lack of something as nothingness'. This knack to see things which are missing is linked to Sartre's idea of freedom. This is because we can picture things which have not happened and things yet to be done, and subsequently this reveals a world full of possibilities where anything can happen (freedom).

Freedom and Responsibility

Human beings have free will and because consciousness is empty, it does not determine what we choose. Sartre argues that we definitely are not constrained by past choices and we are free to do as we wish. Sartre does not deny there are some things we can't change or influence (facticity), such as where we were born and who our parents are, but believes we can change are attitude towards them. Sartre totally rejects the concept that our genetics and upbringing shapes who we are today. Instead Sartre argues that humans have the responsibility to choose what we become.

This view that we can choose who we become sounds appealing; however, Sartre states that this freedom and responsibility we possess is apparently too unbearable for us, hence his phrase condemned to be free'. The following phrases help explain this notion:
Man being condemned to be free carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders; he is responsible for the world and for himself as a way of being.' (1)

I carry the weight of the world by myself alone without

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