Jean-Paul Sartre’s critique of Freudian psychoanalysis played a pivotal role in shaping his own approach to understanding human psychology. While he acknowledged Freud’s contributions, particularly in exploring human behavior, Sartre rejected Freud’s emphasis on the unconscious and determinism, which he believed undermined human freedom and responsibility. In response, Sartre developed existential psychoanalysis, an alternative that preserves existentialist notions of freedom while addressing the psychological dimensions of human experience.
Freudian psychoanalysis posits that human behavior is largely driven by unconscious forces, such as repressed desires and instincts. According to Freud, individuals are unaware of the unconscious forces that shape their actions and personalities, often stemming from early life experiences. Sartre found this view problematic because, from an existentialist perspective, humans are fundamentally free. He argued that attributing behavior to unconscious forces denies the essential freedom of individuals, reducing them to passive subjects driven by instincts.
Sartre contended that humans are not passive beings shaped by unconscious impulses but are active agents, responsible for their own choices. For Sartre, the unconscious is not a separate domain that exerts control over individuals but is rather a form of bad faith—a self-deception in which people avoid acknowledging the truth of their freedom by attributing their actions to external, unconscious forces. What Freud called the unconscious, Sartre viewed as a conscious process of self-deception.
Freedom, Authenticity and Creativity
Sartre’s existential psychoanalysis seeks to understand individuals by exploring how they shape their lives through the choices they make in response to their inherent freedom. Unlike Freudian psychoanalysis, which focuses on repressed desires, existentialism examines how people define themselves through their actions. Sartre believed that analyzing people’s "life projects"—the long-term goals and values that give life meaning—reveals the true motivations behind their behavior. Existential psychoanalysis, therefore, emphasizes individual responsibility in creating one's identity and life path.
Sartre also critiqued Freud’s deterministic explanations for human behavior. Freud often attributed psychological issues, such as neuroses, to unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences. Sartre, however, rejected the idea that past experiences or unconscious processes could fully determine an individual's current actions. He argued that individuals are always free to reinterpret their past and redefine themselves through present choices, and taking responsibility for these choices is what makes us authentic. For Sartre, the past is part of one’s facticity—the facts of existence—but it does not dictate one’s future. People are free to transcend their past through ongoing acts of self-creation.
In developing existential psychoanalysis, Sartre sought to address the psychological dimensions of human life without compromising existentialism’s emphasis on freedom. He believed that individuals are constantly engaged in the process of self-creation, and existential psychoanalysis aims to uncover how they use their freedom to shape their identity and life. By focusing on choice and responsibility, existential psychoanalysis offers a more optimistic alternative to Freud’s deterministic model, presenting a vision of human potential grounded in freedom and creativity.