Introduction

This book is an answer to the question with which Sartre concludes being and nothingness: how are we to understand a freedom that wants to be a freedom?

Sartre's Concept of Selfness

One of Sartre's most fundamental concepts is what he has called the “circuit of selfness,” our attempt to fill ourselves with being. This is how we typically live our lives.

Psychological Implications

Yet a focus on filling ourselves with being is psychologically unhealthy, for it leads to bad faith and conflict.

Alternative Approach

In this book, Dr. Schlee presents an alternative, psychologically healthier approach based not on filling ourselves with being but on embracing the freedom we truly are.