are subjected to more than two sort of realms. Since an existentialist creates their own meaning of life there is no limit like there is in Plato’s essay. The meaning of life is then changed with every decision made because there is no God or enlightened path to goodness. This leaves existentialists left with no excuses for their actions. Once they have made a choice there is no going back and he lives with his choices and blames no one but himself. The essay states: “Subjectivism means, on the one hand, that an individual chooses and makes himself; and, on the other, that it is impossible for man to transcend human subjectivity.” Since there is no unlighted or enlightened path he is responsible for what he chooses and he can not turn back once a mistake is made. The views of goodness, limitations, and subjectivism binds together to explain the different views of human existence between Plato and Sartre. A man confined to life in a cave like Plato’s essay, is restricted to what he sees in the dark and what he will perceive as his reality and truth. While those who go into the light will have an opposing idea of what reality is and have an understanding of what the truth really is. The narrator states that: “he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter life, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkens to the day is dazzled by excess of light” (p. 1186). In Sartre’s essay, existence precedes essence where every man is free to lead his life the way he wants to. The essay states that: “Man is nothing else than his plan; he exists only to the extent that he fulfills himself; he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life” (p. 1297). Every man chooses where he wants to be in the future and his life will only go as far as he plans it to go and not restricted to any certain places or ...
