Human existence is defined by exposure to the world, not retreat into the self

Evidence

For Sartre, if we try to shut ourselves up inside our own minds, ‘in a nice warm room with the shutters closed’, we cease to exist. We have no cosy home: being out on the dusty road is the very definition of what we are. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 160

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes Heidegger’s view of Dasein as thrown into the world — useful for synthesizing existentialist positions. — connects to: Human existence means transcendence and constant action, not passive repose — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 516; The self is bound to others and the world, not separate or controllable — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the…, 477; Freedom means choosing oneself within one’s world, not choosing the world itself. (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Thought and ideas arise between self and world, not inside the individual #corroborates (0.93) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 484
• The self is bound to others and the world, not separate or controllable #corroborates (0.92) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 477
• Human existence means transcendence and constant action, not passive repose #corroborates (0.90) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 516
• For Heidegger, Being-in-the-world means humans serve as a clearing where things reveal themselves #corroborates (0.90) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 591
• Freedom means choosing oneself within one’s world, not choosing the world itself. #corroborates (0.80)