Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat did Sartre mean by 'condemned to be free'?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 9 Flashcards — Existential freedom
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What did Sartre mean by 'condemned to be free'?
Answer
No fixed human nature, so you must choose who to be and are fully responsible — you can't escape your freedom.
Question
Why 'condemned' rather than 'gifted'?
Answer
Because you can never escape freedom — every excuse is bad faith, so the responsibility is always yours.
Question
What is angst (Sartre)?
Answer
The dread that comes from realising your choices are entirely your own, with no rulebook to lean on.
Question
What did Epictetus say real freedom is?
Answer
Inner freedom — you can't control outer events, but you can always master your own responses to them.
Question
Epictetus's striking claim about slaves and the rich?
Answer
An enslaved person can be inwardly free, while a rich person can be a slave to their own moods.
Question
Where do Sartre and Epictetus agree?
Answer
Both locate freedom in your response, not your circumstances.
Question
Where do Sartre and Epictetus split?
Answer
On the feel: Sartre's response-freedom is a burden (angst); Epictetus's is a relief (serenity).
Question
The whole Freedom topic in one line?
Answer
Free will vs determinism · compatibilism · social conditioning · existential freedom (Sartre / Epictetus).
Question
What lifts a Section A answer on freedom to the top band?
Answer
Exploring and weighing several views on the stimulus and reaching a reasoned conclusion — not describing one.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Existential freedom
Topic 1.6 hub
Freedom
More from Topic 1.6
All flashcards in this topic
Philosophy exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free