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Sartrean Bad Faith and Jaina Belief of atmakartrirtvavada
Sartre says that for-itself has freedom of choice, if he denies to choose, if he refuses to choose from amongst the alternative choices open to him, it means he is fleeing from anguish. What it means is that, he is in bad faith. He says, if someone formulates excuses and gives some causes for not taking a decision or choosing, then he is reducing himself to a thing or in-itself. Moreover, he says if one denies his very nature of transcendence i.e. if he accepts himself to be what he is at a particular time, he becomes an in-itself like a waiter, who tries to make himself solely and wholly a waiter. He is then said to be in bad faith. Sartre says="Good faith is an attempt to face our freedom and Bad faith is to flee from it.". The very same view can be compared with the Jain view that, if any monk or nun hides his own ability or capacity to do some work i.e., penance, recitation of verses, going for alms, then he is pāpashraman as mentioned in the Ācārānga Sūtra’ and Dasvaikālika Sūtra.' Pāpashraman is a shraman (a monk) who, according to Sartre's gloss, is simply in bad faith. Moreover · Lord Mahavira has said, man has freedom of action, so he himself is responsible for his own fruition of auspicious and inauspicious Karmas. Even Sartre says: "Since our choice of this fundamental project is absolutely spontaneous, we are wholly responsible for it. We cannot pass on the responsibility to others or lay different excuses for ourselves by blaming the time, the place or the circumstances.*
Sartre claims that while doing any act ,one should also consider the other'. It means my freedom does not obstruct or
W.T. Jones. History of Western Philosophy. op.cit., p. 353. 2 Acaranga Sutra. Ed. Mishrimalji. Beawar: Agam Prakashan Samiti, 1991,
verse-5.3.41 3 Dasvaikalika Sutra. Ed. Muni Nathmal. Ladnun: Jain Vishva Bharati, 1998,
verse-10.8 4 W.T. Jones, History of Western Philosophy. op.cit., p. 358.
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