existentialist notion of freedom

the essence of existence is based on

the individual person

why is our existence both meaningless and meaningful

it is meaningless because there is no prior meaning to our existence, while it is meaningful because we create it ourselves

our freedom has limits, therefore we

are free to do what we can, but not free to do anything

features of human situation that are out of our control

facticity

examples of facticity

race, genetics, family background

features that we can control

transcendence

we cant control our environment, but we can control our

decisions

transcending our facticity

we should be the one who defines and creates the self

what did sartre mean by "we are condemned to be free"

we are thrown into existence, so we carry the weight of being responsible for forming the essence of our existence

if there is no freedom, we will just

accept the essence defined for us by other people

there is no such thing as

absolute freedom