On Being A Person
Sartre's Contribution to Psychotherapy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65828/q711zb97Keywords:
Sartre, Consciousness, Self, Freedom, Choice, AnxietyAbstract
The principal focus of this paper revolves around the existential pre-occupation with what it means to be a person. I argue that the work of Jean-Paul Sartre, in particular through the way he placed consciousness centre-stage in his analysis, allows conceptions of the 'self' that help us, as psychotherapists, in understanding the manifestations of existential anxiety and the possibility of choice in the face of that anxiety. In particular, I consider his analysis of 'Bad Faith' and the subject/object dichotomy in human relations manifest in his analysis of the 'Look'. A major contribution of his work is the idea that from the maelstrom of consciousness emerges our constant striving for knowledge of who we are and therefore who we might become.
Complete access to the full archive of articles is available with SEA membership. Existing members: please log in with your membership password to view full text. Non-members can buy a single article or issue by registering an account on this website, then selecting a padlocked full text button to purchase.
References
Barnes, H. (1968). Introduction. In Jean-Paul Sartre, The S earch f or a Method. New York: Vintage Books.
Barnes, H. (1981). Sartre and F laubert. London: University of Chicago Press.
Barnes, H. (1992). Sartre's ontology: The meaning and making of being. Chapter 1. In Christina Howells (ed) The C ambridge Companion t o Sartre. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/ccol0521381142.002
Cannon, B. (1991). Sartre and Psychoanalysis: An Existential Challenge to Clinical Metatheory. Kansas University Press.
Cannon, B. (2003). Sartre's contribution to psychoanalysis. Chapter 1. In Frie, R. (ed) Understanding E xperience: P sychotherapy an d Postmodernism. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203695562-5
Cannon, B. (2009). Nothingness as the Ground for Change. Existential Analysis, 20.2, July 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/6217v694
Charmé, S.L. (1984). Meaning and Myth in the Study of Lives: A Sartrean Perspective. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512801132
Cohen-Solal, A. (1987). Jean-Paul Sartre: A Life. Canada: Random House Publishers. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/puf.cohen.2005.01
Cox, G. (2008). The Sartre Dictionary. London: Continuum International Publishing DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350250321
Heldt, C. (2009). The Magical and Bad Faith. Sartre Studies International, Vol. 15, Issue 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv941q0p.11
Howells, C. (1992). Conclusion: Sartre and the De-construction of the Subject. In Howells, C. (ed) The C ambridge C ompanion t o S artre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jameson, F. (2004). Foreword. In Jean-Paul Sartre, Critique of Dialectical Reason, Volume 1. London: Verso.
Jopling, D. (1992). Sartre's Moral Philosophy. Chapter 4 In Christina Howells (Ed) The C ambridge C ompanion t o Sa rtre, Cambridge University Press.
Laycock, S.W. (2001). Nothingness and E mptiness: A B uddhist Engagement w ith t he O ntology o f J ean-P aul S artre. Albany: State University of New York.
Martinot, S. (2005). The Sartrean Account of the Look as a Theory of Dialogue. In van den Hoven, A. and Leak, A. (eds) Sartre T oday: A Centenary Celebration. Oxford: Berghahn Books.
Sartre, J-P. (1944). A statement from the magazine Combat quoted In Cohen-Solal, A. (1987), Jean-Paul Sartre: a Life. Canada: Random House Publishers. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/puf.cohen.2005.01
Sartre, J-P. (1956). Being and N othingness: an E ssay o n Phenomenological Ontology. Trans. Barnes, H. New York: Philosophy Library. (First published in French in 1943).
Sartre, J-P. (1981). The F amily I diot, G ustave F laubert, 18 21-1857: Volume 1. Trans. Cosman, C. London: University of Chicago Press.
Sartre, J-P. (2004a). The Transcendence o f t he Ego. New York: Hill and Wang. (First published in French in 1937).
Sartre, J-P. (2004b). Critique of Dialectical Reason: V olume 1. London: Verso. (First Published in French in 1960). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511779497.008
Webber, J. (2002). Motivated Aversion: Non-Thetic Awareness in Bad Faith, Sartre Studies International, Vol. 8, Issue 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/135715502781809693
Wider, K.V. (1997). The B odily N ature o f C onsciousness: Sa rtre a nd Contemporary P hilosophy o f M ind. Ithica and London: Cornell University Press.
Wider, K.V. (2007). Emotional Communication and the Development of Self. Sartre Studies International, Vol. 13, Issue 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/ssi.2007.130201
Zheng, Y. (2001). On Pure Reflection in Sartre's Being and Nothingness, Sartre Studies International, Vol. 7, Issue 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/135715501782368422
