Tom Martin

The thesis of this dissertation is that Sartre's early philosophy provides concepts--the concept of "bad faith" in particular--which can be useful tools in the interpretation of oppressive behaviour. ;Sartre's account of the human conditions has often been interpreted as one in which the human subject appears as an individual, radically free consciousness which ought to be unaffected by its environment, history and contact with others. However, such an interpretation renders Sartrean existentialism of little use in explaining social phenomena such as racism and sexism in which the force of circumstances and the behaviour of others play paramount roles. In opposition to this approach, I argue for an alternative account of the Sartrean approach to human being, one in which the situatedness of freedom is stressed and through which the human condition is best understood as an ambiguous relation of free consciousness and facticity. ;From the standpoint of this account of human being as ambiguity, Sartre's concept of bad faith is examined. Through this examination, bad faith emerges as an attempt to resolve the ambiguity of human being by denying or ignoring one or other of the sides of the ambiguity. As such bad faith admits of two types; one in which transcendence is denied and facticity affirmed, the other in which facticity is denied in favour of pure transcendence. This stands in contrast to many commentaries on Sartre which tend to portray bad faith as being characterised only as a denial of transcendence. ;Two case studies are presented in which the behaviour and beliefs of an oppressor--in one case an anti-Semite, in the other a sexist objectifies women--are investigated and interpreted in terms of bad faith. In these studies one or other of the two types of bad faith are shown to be manifest. Furthermore the operation of bad faith is demonstrated to occur on three interrelated levels; the levels of the individual, one-to-one intersubjectivity and the group or collective

Oppression and the Human Condition is both a valuable teaching tool and an insightful addition to scholarship on the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. Students and teachers will find it an excellent and accessible introduction to Sartre's existentialism, ideal for courses in existentialist and 20th century philosophy. Equally, Sartre scholars will find that the book, especially the sections on oppression and "bad faith," gives them much to think about. Author Thomas Martin applies Sartre's philosophy to contemporary issues and concerns, and draws on two case studies to make his point. The cases examine modern-day oppressors--in one case an anti-semite, in the other a sexist who objectifies women--in the context of Sartre's "bad faith." The case studies also reinforce Martin's argument that Sartre's early philosophy, especially his concept of "bad faith," provides a framework for discussions of oppressions such as racism and sexism.

This paper extends well-established arguments for the liberal potential of vocational education by advocating for the _necessity_ of craft learning in a liberal education curriculum. The case for the necessity of craft learning in liberal education is established in two parts, the first looking toward Aristotle and the second toward Heidegger. First, ideas from Aristotle are employed to articulate a vision of liberal education as that which supports the performance of our characteristic human activity. The paper then splits with Aristotle to suggest that such activity is not defined by rational contemplation, but rather by the circumspective engagement with materials through which our being-in-the-world becomes apparent to us. If, as Heidegger suggests, these practical engagements demonstrate our most fundamental mode of encountering the world and one another, then any liberal education focused on the fulfillment of our potential for understanding must include some craft learning by necessity.