An exploration of consciousness as a void: why we are always more than our circumstances, and why this freedom causes existential dread. 4 mins read.
If facticity represents the anchor of our existence, transcendence (transcendance) is the wind that carries us forward. In the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre, human consciousness is not a physical thing with fixed properties; it is a "nothingness"—a space of pure potentiality that cannot be pinned down by any label, role, or past deed.
To say that a human being has transcendence is to say that they are always in the process of becoming. No matter what you have done in your past, and no matter what social role you currently occupy, you retain the radical capacity to choose differently in the next moment. You are never identical to your current state; you are always projecting yourself toward a future of your own design.
The Terror of the Unwritten Future
While transcendence sounds liberating, it is also the source of our deepest existential dread. Because we are transcendent, we cannot blame our choices on our character, our habits, or our past. If I am an angry person, I am only an angry person because I choose to react with anger in each successive moment. I am condemned to constantly renew my choices, with no guarantee that my past self will sustain me.
In bad faith, we attempt to escape this terrifying openness by pretending we have no transcendence. We pretend we are finished products with fixed characters, saying things like "I am just a coward," or "I am destined to be a failure." In doing so, we deny our capacity to transcend our current state, choosing the safety of stagnation over the anxiety of freedom.
Referenced Works & Texts
- Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, Part One, Chapter One: "The Origin of Negation" (1943). Explores consciousness as a non-thing, or "nothingness," capable of negating its environment.
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