The Problem with Jean-Paul Sartre's Radical Freedom

To be or not to be.

Heron:  I am imprisoned.  Therefore, I have no choice but to stay here.

Sartre:  Everyone has a choice.

Heron:  How is that?

Sartre:  You can always choose to kill yourself.

Sartre's notion of 'radical freedom' said that everyone always has a choice, and every act is a free act. When people say they have 'no choice' but to do something, they are lying to themselves. He would point out situations such as a group of hikers who encounter a boulder blocking their path, leaving them 'no choice' but to turn back. Sartre claimed this was wrong, as they also could fling themselves off the mountain, killing themselves. (from Existential Comics)

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