Sartres Nothingness and Freedom, Foucaults Power and the Geist of History and Politics

Contemporary Philosophy
By: Kristoffer Lorenz L. Basbao

In this paper of mine, I would like to discuss and synthesize Sartres Nothingness and
Freedom and Foucaults Power in relation to the reality of Politics and the geist of History.
The Politics that I refer to are the Politics in the countries, businesses, churches/religions,
organizations and corporations. Sartres philosophy is about Nothingness and Freedom. For
Sartre, everything starts from nothing. The ground of being (verb as to be) is nothing. In
other words, the ground of freedom is nothing. Because there is nothing, man has a Total
Freedom. This freedom also comes with responsibility. All things that man does have their own
consequences and these consequences will haunt man. That is why, man has to use his total freedom
responsibly because the consequences of his actions are inescapable. Foucaults philosophy is about
history as the history of power. For Foucault, Power moves History. The people who are in
power moves history. Because they are in power, they can dictate the geist of history (where
history is going). Good and responsible leaders make good history while bad and corrupt leaders
make bad history.
I.)

Nothingness and Freedom

Jean Paul Sartres philosophy is about Nothingness and Freedom. He started with Being and Nothingness as a critique to Heideggers Be-ing and Time (be-ing as to be). For
Heidegger, the ground of mans be-ing is time. In other words, mans actions are grounded in

time (as in time of the Time-of-the-World). Time is given because of the world. Because the time
flows, be-ing is possible. Everything is grounded in time. On the other hand, Sartre considered
Nothing as the ground of be-ing. Sartres nothingness is like an empty space or void. Because
there is nothing, man can do a lot of things. Man can fill up nothing with something. Filling up
nothing with something comes freedom.
Man uses his freedom in filling nothing with something. For Sartre, man is not born and
later to be free. Man is freedom itself. Man does/acts because he has freedom and he is freedom.
Man as freedom and mans freedom is not limited. It is total and infinite. For Sartre, Nothing is a
context where freedom is total. Man has a total freedom. Man has a total freedom but it does not
mean that he will just do anything what he feels to do (pagusto). Man can do anything he want all
as long that he is responsible for his actions for Freedom comes with responsibility. With nothing
as the ground of freedom, the burden of responsibility is too much. That is why, we humans should
be responsible for everything we do. We should be responsible for our actions because they have
consequences. If mans freedom is total, the consequences of mans actions are also total and
infinite. These consequences of his actions will haunt him and they are inescapable. Aside from the
consequences, mans conscience will also haunt him. That is why, we humans must use our total
freedom responsibly and we must listen to our conscience first before we act. As we face the
consequences of our actions, we can blame no one but our self alone.
II.)

Power: The Geist of History

Michel Foucaults philosophy centers on History and Power. His philosophy is about history
as History of Power. For Foucault, power moves history. All of us, humans, have power. We share
our power from our leaders (in all fields especially in Politics). Our leaders are by virtue more

powerful than us. We just share our power from them. The problem with power is that, it is most of
the time abused. Our leaders, who are more powerful than us abused their power while we ordinary
citizens, who have lesser power use our power well.
If we speak of History, we refer to the history of a particular place or a bigger group of place
(e.g History of the Philippines, History of Asia and History of the World). Talking about places,
every place has their own set of leaders. Leadership comes with greater power. Our leaders are
more powerful than us. Power comes with great responsibility. Because our leaders are more
powerful than us, they have more responsibilities than us. Their being powerful demands so much
responsibility from them. They are not only responsible for their self alone but also responsible for
the people they are leading. Because the leaders shepherd the people they are leading, they are the
ones who dictate where their history will go. They can dictate the geist of history (where history
is going). Good and responsible leaders make good history while bad and corrupt leaders make bad
history. What is lacking with our leaders is discipline. If they have self-discipline, they will not
abuse their power and they will not put the lives of the people they are leading at stake/ in danger.
III.)

Summary, Synthesis and Conclusion

Summary
For Sartre, Nothing is the ground of be-ing. Because there is nothing, be-ing is
possible. What can we do with nothing? The answer is infinite (because there is so much to do
with nothing). Here enters choice and freedom. Because man is free, he can choose what to
do. Man has total and infinite freedom. Freedom comes with responsibility. Man has to be
responsible in his actions because they have consequences. As man uses his freedom, he has to

check and follow his conscience or else his conscience and the consequences of his actions will
haunt him.
Foucaults philosophy is about the History as History of Power. The main point of his
philosophy is that, power moves history, power is the geist of history. We cannot escape power,
All of us have power only that our leaders are more powerful than us and we share our power with
them (lesser power than our leaders). What happens most of the time is that, people who are
powerful abused their power while people who have lesser power used their power well. The use of
power of those who are in power moves history. The key for a better direction of our history is
discipline especially self-discipline of our leaders. If they can discipline their selves not to abuse
their power, the history will go in the right path.
Synthesis and Conclusion: (The use of freedom of those who are in power moves history.)
Power moves History. Our leaders, who are more powerful than us, have to use their total
freedom responsibly because the geist of our history depends on them. We as ordinary citizens
also have a part but our leaders have a bigger part. They determine the direction of our history. Our
leaders are totally free but before they commit a certain action, they have to check first their
conscience. Checking their conscience first will help them avoid committing evil acts and would
also prevent them (and including us) from facing the consequences of our evil actions. Selfdiscipline of our leaders is the key for a good direction of our history. The use of freedom of our
leaders would determine where the history will go. Good, responsible and disciplined leaders will
make a good history while selfish and corrupt leaders will make bad history.