THREAD – On #Sartre, Transgenderism, Bad Faith
The ideas that animate transgenderism are rooted in a handful of 20th century philosophers.
These notes look at how the identity fluidity movement – “gender ideology” – can be traced to Sartre’s ontology of “the subject”.
The ideas that animate transgenderism are rooted in a handful of 20th century philosophers.
These notes look at how the identity fluidity movement – “gender ideology” – can be traced to Sartre’s ontology of “the subject”.
The rhizome of transgenderism extends into psychiatry and sexology – through figures such as John Money, Robert Stoller, Harry Benjamin, and more.
I look at them on another thread.
This thread looks at the philosophical roots – which were and are the core drivers, in my view.
I look at them on another thread.
This thread looks at the philosophical roots – which were and are the core drivers, in my view.
Nietzsche said: – every philosophy is “an involuntary and unconscious autobiography.”
Sartre’s could be said to mirror his childhood.
He was a wunderkind. But a miserable child. He loathed his stepfather and felt alienated by his mother. He stole money from them.
Sartre’s could be said to mirror his childhood.
He was a wunderkind. But a miserable child. He loathed his stepfather and felt alienated by his mother. He stole money from them.
Lonely, he found refuge in books.
“I saw the library as a temple.”
School was hell. Ugly, with an exotropic eye – other kids bullied him.
Eventually, he met minds that could meet his, and in his late teens would excel.
“I saw the library as a temple.”
School was hell. Ugly, with an exotropic eye – other kids bullied him.
Eventually, he met minds that could meet his, and in his late teens would excel.
But by his 20s he possessed an outlook on life tainted by excessive pessimism.
He was burdened by extreme self-consciousness.
His first novel – Nausea – depicts a gloomy young man, Roquentin, who finds himself awash in an ocean of boredom – a void amidst emptiness.
He was burdened by extreme self-consciousness.
His first novel – Nausea – depicts a gloomy young man, Roquentin, who finds himself awash in an ocean of boredom – a void amidst emptiness.
“The Nausea is not inside me; I feel it out there in the wall… everywhere around me.”
Life is purposeless. Sartre came to believe it was tolerable only when a person projects their own fantasies on it.
He ran with this theme.
Life is purposeless. Sartre came to believe it was tolerable only when a person projects their own fantasies on it.
He ran with this theme.
It became the crux of his magnum opus – Being and Nothingness.
It was here he laid out his ontology of "the subject".
(You will start to spot some things transgenderism is built on).
It was here he laid out his ontology of "the subject".
(You will start to spot some things transgenderism is built on).
An ontology is a set of ideas that mesh and meld together to form a picture of existence.
It attempts to explain the nature of being.
To do this, it categorises related concepts and orders them.
It might suggest what a being, a person – a “subject” – ought to exist for.
It attempts to explain the nature of being.
To do this, it categorises related concepts and orders them.
It might suggest what a being, a person – a “subject” – ought to exist for.
To Sartre, a “subject” is not a certain, eternal, stable being.
The human subject is not defined or limited by a fixed identity.
Nor is the subject constrained by any unaltering essence.
The subject exists – “for itself”.
The human subject is not defined or limited by a fixed identity.
Nor is the subject constrained by any unaltering essence.
The subject exists – “for itself”.
Chaos is the rule, everything is in flux – existence is fluid.
One must bring structure to the mayhem or be overwhelmed by it.
The human subject is – “condemned to be free” – as Sartre hyperbolically put it.
One must bring structure to the mayhem or be overwhelmed by it.
The human subject is – “condemned to be free” – as Sartre hyperbolically put it.
Freedom arrives through a war of meanings that the subject projects upon itself and on its circumstances.
The subject must choose what to ascribe meaning to.
The subject becomes an ink blot in a Rorschach test – to which any interpretation may be applied.
The subject must choose what to ascribe meaning to.
The subject becomes an ink blot in a Rorschach test – to which any interpretation may be applied.
Other people are objects, “Others”.
They are given meaning only in relation to the subject perceiving them.
The human subject is an author, a conductor, a creator of values – initiating its own projects and interests – and must take full responsibility for whatever results.
They are given meaning only in relation to the subject perceiving them.
The human subject is an author, a conductor, a creator of values – initiating its own projects and interests – and must take full responsibility for whatever results.
•the emphasis on no fixed identity
•the “fluidity” of existence
•the idea that existence comes before any essence – “biology is not destiny”
•the subject having to impose meaning upon itself
•the “project of identity” as an existence – “for itself.”
•the “fluidity” of existence
•the idea that existence comes before any essence – “biology is not destiny”
•the subject having to impose meaning upon itself
•the “project of identity” as an existence – “for itself.”
It ought to be clear transgenderism has been constructed – I trust you understand why I use that term – upon Sartre’s framework.
How did it get from Sartre and morph into the identity fluidity madness of today?
Through other thinkers who kept the melody but changed the key.
How did it get from Sartre and morph into the identity fluidity madness of today?
Through other thinkers who kept the melody but changed the key.
Simone de Beauvoir adopted this framework for her study of woman.
Beauvoir was concerned to not have women remain as mere “Objects” for men.
She wanted them to become “Subjects” in their own right.
Beauvoir was concerned to not have women remain as mere “Objects” for men.
She wanted them to become “Subjects” in their own right.
In the early 60s Michel Foucault’s mission was to topple and replace Sartre as France’s leading public intellectual.
He lifted the “subject/object” framework and applied it to subjects that had been objectified in the mental asylum, clinic, and prison – and through sexuality.
He lifted the “subject/object” framework and applied it to subjects that had been objectified in the mental asylum, clinic, and prison – and through sexuality.
Jacques Derrida looked at the subject/object as a binary opposition.
His project was to “unfix” binaries.
This obsession would later be carried through various underground channels and eventually produce the “non-binary” nonsense we have the pleasure of witnessing today.
His project was to “unfix” binaries.
This obsession would later be carried through various underground channels and eventually produce the “non-binary” nonsense we have the pleasure of witnessing today.
French Feminists: Monique Wittig called for women "to assume the status of universal subject.”
Luce Irigaray felt women had for too long been content merely to remain the object of male desire. They “must become fully conversant with the subjectivity-objectivity relationship.”
Luce Irigaray felt women had for too long been content merely to remain the object of male desire. They “must become fully conversant with the subjectivity-objectivity relationship.”
By way of these figures, Judith Butler obtained it.
Butler’s book Gender Trouble is soaked with the Sartrean ontology and its precepts drip from every page.
It is this book that gave rise to much of what we see today in transgenderism.
Butler’s book Gender Trouble is soaked with the Sartrean ontology and its precepts drip from every page.
It is this book that gave rise to much of what we see today in transgenderism.
The idea of “gender as a social construct” comes to us through a Sartrean lens – an external meaning imposed on the subject by Others – a meaning merely acted out, “performed”.
When sex and gender are independent of one another – “gender itself becomes a free-floating artifice.”
When sex and gender are independent of one another – “gender itself becomes a free-floating artifice.”
ENTER: the chaos of the internet.
The Tumblr youth stretched Butler’s concepts to almost logical extremities – to the point of absurdity.
Gender became the conduit by which they ascribed meaning to themselves.
The Tumblr youth stretched Butler’s concepts to almost logical extremities – to the point of absurdity.
Gender became the conduit by which they ascribed meaning to themselves.
Thrown – I use Heidegger’s term – into a body and a material world they did not choose, they find meaning through – “gender expression.”
Any attempt to query that meaning is seen as aggression from an “Other”.
They interpret existence solely through the lens of gender.
Any attempt to query that meaning is seen as aggression from an “Other”.
They interpret existence solely through the lens of gender.
One might call it – “gender existentialism”.
But that might be too generous…
Although these ‘gender existentialists’ unwittingly operate on Sartre’s framework, they are yet to reckon with another part of his philosophy: –
the concept of “bad faith.”
But that might be too generous…
Although these ‘gender existentialists’ unwittingly operate on Sartre’s framework, they are yet to reckon with another part of his philosophy: –
the concept of “bad faith.”
To my mind – “Bad Faith” typifies the phenomenon of transgenderism.
What did Sartre actually say about “bad faith” and how might it apply?
What did Sartre actually say about “bad faith” and how might it apply?
Someone is said to be living in “bad faith” when they deceive themselves about “the human reality” and induce themselves to falsely believe they are not what they actually are.
“The very project of flight reveals… an inner disintegration in the heart of being.”
“The very project of flight reveals… an inner disintegration in the heart of being.”
A man might claim that they really are a woman ‘on the inside’, and through long tresses, dresses, drugs and surgery, can become their “authentic” self.
But if one requires cosmetic modification to become-what-one-is – one is not that.
But if one requires cosmetic modification to become-what-one-is – one is not that.
“Denying the qualities which I possess” and attempting to “constitute myself as being what I am not” – Sartre called self-negation.
When a subject seeks a mode of being that they are “prevented by nature from attaining” – “this attitude, it seems to me, is bad faith.”
When a subject seeks a mode of being that they are “prevented by nature from attaining” – “this attitude, it seems to me, is bad faith.”
“Bad faith seeks by means of “not-being-what-one-is” to escape from the in-itself” – the in-itself defined as an essential characteristic, say:
being-female, or being-male.
being-female, or being-male.
“The decision to be in bad faith does not dare speak its name; it believes itself and does not believe itself in bad faith” – and this pattern “tends to perpetuate itself”.
“A peculiar type of evidence appears; non-persuasive evidence.”
Who has not been a recipient of this!
“A peculiar type of evidence appears; non-persuasive evidence.”
Who has not been a recipient of this!
“The one who practices bad faith is hiding a displeasing truth or presenting as truth a pleasing untruth.”
Bad faith is the projection of an identity – an identity project – that is not in check with reality: – “a being which is what it is not, and which is not what it is.”
Bad faith is the projection of an identity – an identity project – that is not in check with reality: – “a being which is what it is not, and which is not what it is.”
There's an old joke about a patient who takes a Rorschach test and thinks every inkblot looks like a naked woman. The psychologist asks why he’s so obsessed with sex. The patient replies:
“You’re the one who keeps showing me dirty pictures!”
“You’re the one who keeps showing me dirty pictures!”
Like the patient in this joke, the gender identity kids do not distinguish between the ink and their own reactions.
This is what was meant when I said in my song:
"These people can't tell the difference between finding and inventing."
This is what was meant when I said in my song:
"These people can't tell the difference between finding and inventing."
Sartre said: to get out of bad faith, one must realise one’s existence – its “facticity” – and one’s identity projection – “transcendence” – are not the same thing.
He called this: – "self-recovery."
He called this: – "self-recovery."
Thanks for reading.
LISTEN TO MY SONG HERE:
Do me a favour: retweet it or share it.
Let me know if you agree/disagree with parts or the whole of this thread. I'd be interested in peoples' thoughts.
LISTEN TO MY SONG HERE:
Do me a favour: retweet it or share it.
Let me know if you agree/disagree with parts or the whole of this thread. I'd be interested in peoples' thoughts.
Perhaps @HJoyceGender @BenjaminABoyce @ConceptualJames @HPluckrose @wokal_distance might be interested in this?
Would be interested in your thoughts.
Would be interested in your thoughts.
