JEAN-PAUL SARTRE AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Jean Paul Sartre-Personal Responsibility
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Abstract
Sartre strongly believed on the nation that genetics does not designate the individual framework of a person. Moreover, he also believed that once an individual is born, he or she has the full potential to decide upon his behavioral and natural characteristics. Thus, although the physical constituents are considered to be decided by genetics, the behavioral patterns are subjected to change. Sartre described that there are 3 states through which a human being has to pass through. These are anguish, abandonment and despair which arise from the actions and inactions of human beings. By the virtue of human nature such persons are sensitized, habituated or aligned with the thought process of the individual who seeks help. Sartre highlighted the fact that even if such opinions are biased or unworthy, the individual concerned takes a decision to accept or reject such advices and hence the final decision is completely enjoyed by the individual. Another philosophy which Sartre strongly believed was that existence precedes essence. Sartre stated that an individual who make decisions based on their freedom and rationality of responsibility and understanding impact of his actions or inactions, were the persons who acted authentically.
The field of Psychiatry and Psychology adds enough insights to the power of a human being in alleviating the agony of others. Moreover J. Morgan speculated that, Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy holds the promise of alleviating the clinical conditions of individuals.

The person who delivers psychotherapy performs an authentic act or an act in good faith. Moreover, the person who receives psychotherapy definitely is capable enough to understand the behavioral actions of the other person. Hence, once again we find existence precedes essence.
Sartre’s philosophy is also reflected in the works and thoughts of the renowned zoologist and humanist James Huxley. Huxley’s philosophy is absolutely true that above all humans and humanism is the ultimate reality and there cannot be any speculations of superpower or God. He further endorsed the concept that the human race has progressed due to unfolding of knowledge in different aspects which has helped the human race to realize the reality and orient their actions or inactions. If one has to rely on religion which is not evident then an individual would have landed into more anguish, abandonment and despair. The philosophy of Huxley was further complemented by Spencer. Like Huxley he was also an ardent believer of Darwin’s concept of origin of species. Actually Spencer coined the phrase “Struggle for existence and survival of the fittest”, which is often kinked to Darwin. The same context can be linked to Sartre’s philosophy of anguish, abandonment and despair. Individuals who are more capable of surviving under stress will experience less anguish, abandonment and despair compared to persons who have less coping strategies. Thus the theory of natural selection holds to be true in these set of individuals too. Nature selects those individuals who have better coping strategies and he or she may not require any pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions to overcome situations of depression or PTSD. The philosophy of Sartre’s was further complemented by the famous biologist Edward Wilson. Wilson has rigorously challenged the philosophical, theological and sociological concept through the study of mind and genetic basis of culture. Wilson speculated that science and ethics are converged in determining human behavior and ethics. Wilson proposed the concept that culture has a strong influence on the personality of an individual.
Jean Paul Sartre-Personal Responsibility
Jean Paul Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, political activist and novelist and was born on 1905. He is known for his concept of Existentialism and Humanism. He was one of the key figures in French philosophy during the twentieth century. The works of Jean Paul Sartre influence the fields of sociology, literature, psychology and post colonial studies. Jean Paul Sartre was awarded the Noble prize for literature in 1964, but he refused the award. The philosophy which governed Jean Paul Sartre’s vision on life was based upon the individualism of human beings. It has been speculated both in literature and in science that every action of a human being is predetermined from birth. Moreover, the speculations assumed that the individual is unable to demonstrate his o her free will in leading individual life style. However, Jean Paul Sartre believed that humans do have the ability to make self-choices and take individual decisions for their life (Webster, 2005).
Sartre strongly believed on the nation that genetics does not designate the individual framework of a person. Moreover, he also believed that once an individual is born, he or she has the full potential to decide upon his behavioral and natural characteristics. Thus, although the physical constituents are considered to be decided by genetics, the behavioral patterns are subjected to change. The role of physical constituents only helps to decide or accept a specific behavioral action. Sartre further implicated on the notion that individuals do not have the choice of selecting their own parents, but they certainly have the choice of selecting a lifestyle and way of living. His philosophy pivoted around the central theme that when individuals are provided with certain responsibility, it helps them to select the way of life. Therefore, when the freedom of choices is extended towards an individual, an individual becomes conscious of such responsibilities and the outcomes of such responsibilities. Moreover, an individual cannot parse such responsibility to others and acts in a way to modulate such responsibilities either themselves or with the help of others (Cohen-Solal, 1987).
Even if such help or action or suggestion is needed from a different person, the individual concerned selects the person based on his choice and apprehensions. Sartre also held the opinion that an individual is fully conscious regarding the way of action and thought process of such individuals. These attributes decide the person to be touched during the period of help or advice. By the virtue of human nature such persons are sensitized, habituated or aligned with the thought process of the individual who seeks help. Sartre highlighted the fact that even if such opinions are biased or unworthy, the individual concerned takes a decision to accept or reject such advices and hence the final decision is completely enjoyed by the individual. Moreover, Sartre also believed that the responsibility shared by man not only helps to drive his or her own actions or inactions, but also provides exemplification to others (Cohen-Solal, 1987). Therefore, Sartre was also of the opinion that humans can modulate the behavior of other humans. He rejected the theory of relativism of behavior. This means that when one action seems to be suitable for some individuals, it might displease or erode the interests of other individuals. Rather, Sartre believed that if one action seems to be suitable for some individuals, it might seem suitable for other individuals too (Cohen-Solal, 1987).
Sartre described that there are 3 states through which a human being has to pass through. The first one is anguish, which arises form the actions and inactions of human beings. Thus, anguish represents the state of feeling of a person which is caused due to the burden of responsibility. Thus he holds the responsibility of not only his own actions but also the actions or inactions of others. He has to pass through this phase because Sartre believed that all such actions and decisions were framed by the individual himself and he has to take the onus of such responsibilities. The second state that Sartre believed which humans experience is abandonment. Sartre speculated that there is no God, and due to this lack of supreme power an individual feels left out or feels abandoned during the decision making process. Thus Sartre believed that a human has to develop his own moral encompass and there is no guiding power which will help him to develop such traits. This feeling of not being guided through an external and supreme power imposes the feeling of abandonment in a human being. The final state which a man experiences is despair. The feeling of despair is actually a combination of anguish and abandonment. This means the exhibition of responsibility without any guiding power lands a human being into a state of despair (Cohen-Solal, 1987).
Another philosophy which Sartre strongly believed was that existence precedes essence. Sartre stated that an individual who make decisions based on their freedom and rationality of responsibility and understanding impact of his actions or inactions, were the persons who acted authentically. On the other hand individuals who deferred their rational decisions and swayed away from such associated responsibility acted untruthfully and in bad faith. Sartre also believed that due to such authenticate and unauthentic behavior, a human dictates his or her essence of life. Thus he concluded that existence always precedes essence. This means the act of a human being is guided by the existence of a person in the society. Therefore, he believed that values are a relative issue to human beings. Values do not precede existence. In fact Sartre believed that values are only realized and framed depending upon the individual choice of the individuals. An individual chooses his or her own set of values which causes him to act either authentically or un-authentically. Thus values are selected based on the free choices of an individual. Sartre’s philosophy may certainly be reflected in our societal system. In the society we are not bound to accept any values either moral or immoral and may decide upon our own choices to select such values. These values are exemplified by the individuals who create essence in the person. Thus, to determine the essence of a person, existence is essential (Cohen-Solal, 1987).
The present article would try to evaluate the philosophy of Sartre based upon the fields of Psychology, Spiritualism and Belief in God. Each of the following works would be used to support Sartre’s philosophy that human beings are self-responsible for their emotional, psychological, evolutionary and psychosocial well being. Moreover, the article would also reflect that the actions and inactions of different individuals influence other individuals. This means that human beings are responsible for the well being and ill being of humans and there are no supernatural interventions. Hence, the main theme of the article would be to portray the importance of human behavior which may affect others in either a positive or in a negative way. Sartre believed that authentic behavior must prevail over unauthentic behavior or bad faith. It is only such approaches that may help individuals to gain from societal, philosophical and biological relations. The article would stress the tremendous potential in a human being which he or she can use to benefit or detriment the life of themselves and others. Hence, personal responsibility is the key driver of one’s self behavior which may be aligned to the needs of different individuals who are either dependent upon them or their actions which are modulated by them.
The field of Psychiatry and Psychology adds enough insights to the power of a human being in alleviating the agony of others. Moreover J. Morgan speculated that, Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy holds the promise of alleviating the clinical conditions of individuals (Morgan, 2012). To understand, the role of human beings and their responsibility upon different individuals from the perspective of psychiatric disorders needs to be explored first. In the field of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, it is accepted that an individual may suffer from various mental health issues which might or might not be under their direct control. The scientific discipline certainly endorses and proves that there are various physiological anomalies which lead to such mental health status. For example, one such psychiatric illness is Major Depressive Disorder. In this situation an individual has a low mood and is not motivated to express himself either in a positive or negative way. The person remains indifferent, and cannot enjoy or laugh under situations, which is usually enjoyable to others. Hence, the behavior of the person is quite different from other individuals who surround them either in their professional or social life. There are other symptoms too, like eating too much or too less, sleeping too much or too less, walking so fast or slow which is easily differentiated by others. The above behavioral actions are very specific to the individual who suffers from depression. Psychiatry or psychopharmacology has definitely a clinical and molecular explanation to such phenomenon. From such perspective, the disease is attributed to the deficiency of a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the synapse. Synapse is a space between the two neurons. For elevation and maintenance of mood it is essential that sufficient serotonin is available at the synapse. Such concentrations of serotonin will create impulse in the post-synaptic neurons and will lead to sustenance of mood of a person. Persons who suffer from depression, has inadequate levels of serotonin in the synapse. This is due to increased reuptake of serotonin in the presynaptic neurons, and therefore less serotonin is available to the post synaptic neurons. This results in low mood and the state of major depressive disorder. With such a robust science and explanation of depression psychiatry does provide the pharmacological intervention methods like administration of serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These drugs block the presynaptic receptors of serotonin and makes serotonin available at synapse. This reduces the episodes and severity of depression in the affected person. If science was so robust then there would have been a uniform strategy and effectiveness of treatment in all patients suffering from depression. However, it is documented that no single drug which may be universally applied to treat depression and there are various pharmacologic agents. Moreover, it is observed that for the treatment of depression dosage titration is required to arrive at a specific dose of a certain medication. Once again, such fixation of a dose is not uniform and it has to be again modified based on the condition of the individual patient. Therefore, if the situation is analyzed on the basis of Sartre’s philosophy it becomes evident that the behavior of depression is due to the person or the individual itself. It is very easy to speculate that such behaviors are exhibited by the responsible inactions as Sartre puts into his philosophy. Hence, the individual is weak in combating or coping with life and does not exhibit the true essence that a normal individual exhibits. Such a situation clearly exhibits, that the genetic endowment would not be sufficient enough, to prevent an episode of depression in an individual. Therefore, a person experiences an episode of depression through his interaction with other individuals or situation to which he or she is exposed. Hence, to get sensitized on the issue of sadness or depression the virtual existence of an individual is necessary. This puts the philosophy of Sartre forward, as he speculated that existence precedes essence. Hence, the essence is the depressive behavior, symptoms or attitudes person exhibits, while existence indicates the ability of the individual to understand the surrounding society and the interactions. Further, the responsibility of the individual towards self and towards others is definitely portrayed and perhaps the individual suffering from depression is fully aware of such situation. It might be possible that the individual exhibits such depressive episodes or recurrent depressive episodes due to the deviation from his or her normal behavior. If psychiatry or psychopharmacology was full proof, one need not opt for other non-pharmacological interventions for the management of depression or associated diseases. This opens up the avenue of traditional psychotherapy or pastoral psychotherapy (Morgan, 2012).
Traditional psychotherapy is based on psycho counseling. In this form of therapy, an individual is inquired through a person centric approach the cause of depression or anxiety. Depression may stem from various organic and inorganic causes. Organic causes should be appraised and treated with pharmacologic interventions. However, even in case of organic nature of depression the triggering factors may be inorganic and may be induced by an individual’s immediate or distant environment. Depression may occur from professional break ups, relationship break ups, academic non-performance or under-performance or financial status. Therefore, it is very important to understand the root cause of depression before planning a care for the depression itself. This is the most important and vital criteria for the management of depression. It is endorsed that if the root cause of depression is not alleviated or if an individual is not oriented to cope with such a cause he or she might suffer from recurrent episodes of depression. Such a philosophy and finding is endorsed by another spectrum of psychiatric disorder known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Such traumatic disorders can occur in an individual if he or she is a direct victim or indirect victim of trauma. Molestation of females or witnessing bloodshed in a war can lead to episodes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in such individuals. The individual experiences depression, palpitation and disturbed sleep. The most important symptom of such disorder is by witnessing a similar act on somebody else, elicits the past episodes in him or her. This is why the disorder is called “Post –Traumatic”, as the individual experiences such recurring symptoms even after the traumatic episode is over. Once again there are medications like anxiolytics and antidepressants, which would reduce such recurrent thoughts associated with PTSD. However, medications alone are unsuitable to manage the organic cause of PTSD. Therefore, like depression a patient centric approach is required to counsel the patient. Therefore, traditional psychotherapy aims to alleviate the mental health issues through human behavioral interventions. This situation complies with the “Personal Responsibility” concept of Sartre as because one individual helps another individual to cope with the depression or PTSD. The person who delivers psychotherapy performs an authentic act or an act in good faith. Moreover, the person who receives psychotherapy definitely is capable enough to understand the behavioral actions of the other person. Hence, once again we find existence precedes essence (Morgan, 2012).
On the other hand pastoral psychotherapy is the process of administering care based on certain faith or belief systems. The affected individual with a mental health issue seeks help from a specific individual based on certain traits or faith in that individual. This situation once again vibrates the philosophy of Sartre that an individual makes choices to select on other individual. In this form of therapy various cultural, religious, social and personal beliefs are extended towards the affected person, in order to alleviate his or her mental health issue. For example, various mythological events are narrated to the patients from renowned epics to help him or her in the coping process. Often it is noted, that the patient feels peace of mind and could align him or herself to such examples. Hence, clinical pastoral therapy is one of the emerging fields of medical practice. The therapy is based on the existence of the individual who can analyze the behavioral action of other individual on him or her. The basis of clinical pastoral therapy is perhaps the foundation stone of patient centric care. It has been endorsed by various guidelines that a patient must be treated based on religious, cultural and spiritual beliefs. Each and every care provider should comply with the concept of person centric care. From the above examples it becomes pertinent that essence of an individual is influenced by existence of that individual or the individual who extends such psychotherapy (Morgan, 2012).
The entire situation of depressive and psychiatric disorders can be viewed under Sartre’s classification of life stages of an individual. As it was earlier pointed out that individual experience anguish, abandonment and despair, these situations could be oriented towards the depressive states. The person suffering from a psychiatric disease perhaps suffers from anguish due to his course of action which he or she might have been responsible. For example, if an individual commits a crime or cheats on somebody, he or she will experience anguish over the course of their own action which will lead to depression or other psychiatric disorders. When the individual realizes that there is no superpower, an individual feels left out or feels abandoned during the decision making process or in this case in the coping process. Perhaps the main goal of traditional psychotherapy or pastoral psychotherapy is to provide the confidence in the affected person to help him or her out from the feeling of abandonment or detachment. Psycho counseling helps to provide an individual with the power of coping. When the individual is bothered by anguish or abandonment it leads to despair in the individual. This is evident in the case of PTSD. A person suffers from anguish and abandonment in such a situation, while extending psychotherapy to such person reduces his or her despair.
Sartre’s philosophy is also reflected in the works and thoughts of the renowned zoologist and humanist James Huxley. James Huxley was a British scientist and an evolutionary biologist. He was lecturer at Oxford, Texas and Kings College, in London. Although he assumed various teaching positions at different institutes he took deep interest in the evolutionary and developmental biology of human beings. His major contribution was to speculate the fact that humans are themselves responsible for orienting their self actions or actions of other individuals. Perhaps the greatest philosophy which was highlighted by Huxley was that there is no such concept of religion and humanism is the only religion which is evident and measurable. He speculated that humanism is the basis of spirituality and religion. The creation of human over a period of evolutionary time trend becomes the criterion for belief in successive generations. Therefore, Huxley was of the notion that religion is something which must be felt in reality and must be measurable. Certainly the knowledge which develops over the period of time, and the solution of ignorance all points out to the concept that religion of reality and humanity is built upon over a period of time. In the earlier discussion of psychotherapy, it became evident that counseling aims to aid in the coping process. There is no provision where a psychotherapist may point out to supernatural powers to cure an individual’s state of depression or PTSD. It is the moral responsibility of both the individuals (the psychotherapist and the patient) to understand the reality of the situation and formulate an action plan which aids in the process of coping. Therefore, Huxley’s philosophy is absolutely true that above all humans and humanism is the ultimate reality and there cannot be any speculations of superpower or God. He further endorsed the concept that the human race has progressed due to unfolding of knowledge in different aspects which has helped the human race to realize the reality and orient their actions or inactions. If one has to rely on religion which is not evident then an individual would have landed into more anguish, abandonment and despair. This is true because individuals are treated or aided by individuals only and there is no superpower that modulates such actions. At the most, it can influence the faith of an individual. However, if the individual cannot extract the sense of well being or power of coping he or she is bound to lose faith in such institutions. Rather, the individual may rely or develop faith in an individual who helps him or her out from the state of despair by rational processes. Huxley’s grandfather laid the foundation for his thought process. His grandfather was an eminent biologist and evolutionary scientist too. He was an ardent supporter of Darwin’s theory of “Origin of Species”. Darwin endorsed the hypothesis of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. Such hypothesis once again complements Sartre’s philosophy of personal responsibility. Darwin highlighted that individuals or organisms were born at the same time period, but the individual who was more capable or potent survived amongst others. This once again indicates that existence precedes essence. Perhaps the individual who survived had the skill to develop certain essence or trait which helped it to survive in preference of others. However, it should be noted that Darwin endorsed that both forms of individuals were existent. Thus existence alone does not ensure survival of an individual, but the essence is essential for survival strategies. From the perspective of depressive or psychiatric disorders it is easily noted that some individuals may suffer from depression, while other individuals may experience no psychological trauma upon exposure to similar situations. This means the individual who can overcome situations of stress or mental trauma are fittest and have better coping strategies. On the other hand, individuals who cannot overcome situations of stress or mental trauma are not fit and have poor coping strategies. This situation may lead such persons to recurrent depressive symptoms or even suicidal tendencies, which clearly demonstrates that they are not fit to survive. When they have lost their coping strategies, it is then they become dependent on other individuals to help them out from their condition of anguish, abandonment and despair. Huxley has pointed out that the evolutionary time frame has created individuals with better coping strategies. This is true because when knowledge is less, reliance on supernatural explanations are more. However, over the period of time there has been a tremendous revolution of knowledge, or it can be said that knowledge has evolved in a tremendous way. This growth of knowledge has not only increased the capability of an individual to decide his or her course of action or responsibility. With the growth of knowledge humans have developed the capability of modulating their self behavior and the behavior of others. Hence, humanism itself is a religion which is tangible and real. Moreover, humanism may be speculated to be the scientific basis of faith. If one has to go by this speculation, then pastoral psychotherapy will hold the scientific basis of faith. The individual patient would trust the individual who is extending psychotherapy based on his or her knowledge. Therefore, such knowledge can be speculated to be the corner stone of faith and religious beliefs. Since it is noted that clinical pastoral therapy is based on the concept of reliance and faith, therefore it can also be speculated that reliance and faith is actually the knowledge of an individual (Morgan, 2012).
The philosophy of Huxley was further complemented by Spencer. Like Huxley he was also an ardent believer of Darwin’s concept of origin of species. Actually Spencer coined the phrase “Struggle for existence and survival of the fittest”, which is often kinked to Darwin. However, Spencer initially believed that traits are acquired by birth and genetics decide the foundation stone of the character or trait of a human being. If such hypothesis was accepted to be true, then there would have been no room from physical interactions of humans with their environment. On the contrary, it might seem to support the philosophy of Lamarck. Lamarck mentioned that organisms developed due to use and disuse of organs. The common example he traced was the evolution of long necked-giraffe from their ancestral form of short necked giraffes. Presently, we are aware that there was no concept of short necked giraffe ancestry. Darwin mentioned that both forms of giraffe existed, but the long necked giraffe was more efficient in feeding on tall trees which helped them to survive in crisis situations of scarcity of short plants. Hence, the short necked giraffes perished over the period of evolutionary history and were replaced by the existent form of long necked giraffe. This process is called natural selection and nature favored long necked giraffe in preference to short necked giraffe. Spencer was convinced by such hypothesis and agreed that genetic endowment does not helps an individual to survive but it is the trait which an individual develops by the virtue of n existent quality. Hence, we can correlate this finding with Sartre’s philosophy. Sartre endorsed that existence preceded essence. Hence, we can definitely notice that the long neck attribute was already existent, which helped the long necked giraffe to develop the essence of feeding on tall trees.
The above notion may be extrapolated to psychiatric diseases too. Different individuals have different strategies and ability to cope with mental health issues. Therefore, it may be speculated that those individuals were born with same basic neuronal architecture and brain function, but developed better coping strategies over their life span. Such developments may be due to their own personal development or development through interaction with others. However, there is no surety or there is no knowledge that such coping strategies would be passed on to the next generations. Therefore, if we once again return the cycle of birth and death, the new individual would only survive such situations if he or she is fit. Fitness in this aspect refers to the mental fitness and strength of coping. The same context can be linked to Sartre’s philosophy of anguish, abandonment and despair. Individuals who are more capable of surviving under stress will experience less anguish, abandonment and despair compared to persons who have less coping strategies. Thus the theory of natural selection holds to be true in these set of individuals too. Nature selects those individuals who have better coping strategies and he or she may not require any pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions to overcome situations of depression or PTSD. This means the individual is capable or responsible enough to drive his or her actions based on the perception of the immediate environment. For example, even under stress or depression such individuals can extend help and support to others. Hence, we can contend that these become a set of values, which may or may not be inculcated by others. On the other hand, nature will not select those individuals who do not have better coping strategies and he or she may require pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions to overcome situations of depression or PTSD. This means the individual is not capable or responsible enough to drive his or her actions based on the perception of the immediate environment. However, these individuals would definitely guided by their own choice to seek help from other individuals for alleviation of their mental health issues.
Spencer also stressed on the importance of knowledge in defining religion and spirituality. He did not directly negate the absence of a superpower but indirectly raised various questions which help us to understand the basis of true religion and spirituality. Spencer was a person who endorsed that if something cannot be measured or felt or proven it cannot be considered authentic. Spencer mentioned that if God is there what is his form and shape, who created god himself, if so what were the starting materials for the creation of God. Thus, it becomes evident that Spencer was completely inquiring the knowledge regarding the existence of superpower. This speculation may be correlated to Huxley’s concept of humanism as the ultimate religion. This is because we are aware regarding the building blocks of humans; we understand embryology, evolution and the cycle of life and death. This knowledge uplifts the authenticity of humans in preference to God (at least till the knowledge regarding God gets revealed). These speculations may be aligned to Sartre’s theory of responsibility. Being humans one should exhibit responsible behavior or actions, as because he or she is the highest believable religion. The trust, faith, healing and coping will all depend upon the actions or inactions of such individuals. Although we are uncertain about the existence of God, we are definitely certain regarding the presence of a good human being. We do understand the measurement of such “good” traits (Morgan, 2006).
The philosophy of Sartre’s was further complemented by the famous biologist Edward Wilson. He was instrumental in explaining the relationship between moral behavior and biology. He developed the field of sociobiology which has revolutionized our concept of human ethics and behavior. Wilson has rigorously challenged the philosophical, theological and sociological concept through the study of mind and genetic basis of culture. Wilson speculated that science and ethics are converged in determining human behavior and ethics. Wilson proposed the concept that culture has a strong influence on the personality of an individual. In other words, societal structure and social relations do drive the character of an individual. Hence, Wilson’s philosophy may be aligned to Sartre’s philosophy of personal responsibility and essence is preceded by existence. As Sartre believed that genetic endowment does not determine the character or morality of an individual, so did Wilson. Wilson effectively proved that the societal interactions have a deep influence on genetic culture of an organism. This proves that genetics does not modulate societal interaction or moral values, rather such interactions and moral values may change the genetic trait of an individual. Such a situation may be correlated to Psychotherapy or Huxley’s theory of evolution. This is because a person, who is not born with improved coping skills for stress or depression, may develop such skills through interaction with others. These “other individuals” may be pastoral psychotherapists or traditional psychotherapists. Moreover, the speculation and endorsements of Wilson pointed out to an important aspect on the theory of responsibility as framed by Sartre. Wilson proposed that the ethics and nature of humans are deeply influenced by society. Hence the individuals of a society may exhibit a positive or negative behavior upon that individual which may change his or her inherent traits. Further, it is also possible that the individual concerned may be driven by his or her own choice to follow a positive or negative behavior in the society. Therefore ethics of two similar individuals may vary based their interactions with different individuals in the society (Morgan, 2005).
References
Morgan, J. H. (2005). Naturally Good: A Behavioral Histoy of Moral Development from Charles Darwin to EO Wilson
Morgan, J. H. (2006). In the Absence of God: Religious Humanism as Spiritual Journey: with Special Reference to Julian Huxley
Morgan, J. H. (2012). Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy: A Practitioner’s Handbook for Ministry Professionals
Cohen-Solal, A .(1987).Sartre: A Life. Translated by Anna Cancogni. New York: Pantheon Books
Webster, Richard (2005). Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis. Oxford: The Orwell Press. p. 7