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Introduction
Facticity is a word used by Jean Paul Sartre to describe the hand we are dealt at birth. For Sartre, our existence precedes our essence. What he means by this is that there is no pre-determined me, or you or anyone. We become who we are very much because of the choices we make.
We can’t do much about our facticity. We can’t change where we were born, how tall we are or our sporting ability. We can influence some aspects of our facticity.
If we have a poor diet and eat to the point of obesity, we won’t be playing at Wimbledon. However, with a good diet, hard work and coaching even those of us of a modest sporting ability will improve.
If you never play chess, you won’t become a grandmaster. But with practice you may become a modestly talented player.
Choosing to play chess or choosing to play tennis are what Sartre refers to as our transcendence. They are choices that affect what we become. Gary Kasparov and Roger Federer chose to play, respectively, chess and tennis. They may have chose otherwise: they didn’t.
At any point in time we are a combination of our facticity and transcendence. Sartre calls this being in situation. We don’t choose our situations. However, our previous choices will have played a hand in the situation we find ourselves.
We can choose how we respond to our situation. Viktor Frankl, calls this choosing our attitude to our circumstances. Let me give you an example.
Remember when you were at school and you had exams coming up. So, the week before your first exam you are in a particular situation, a combination of your facticity and transcendence. You can’t change the circumstances you are in. You can, though, choose how to respond.
Sartre would say you have to choose. The one thing you have no choice about is the fact that you have to choose. In Sartre’s dramatic phrase you are condemned to be free and even not choosing is a choice.
So, what do you do? You could work hard and do everything you can to to do well in your exams. You could decide that exams are unimportant and do little or nothing. You could choose various approaches between these extremes. The thing is, whatever you choose, it is your choice.
An alternative is to say “I’m hopeless at exams so I’m not even going to try”. That is something Sartre calls bad faith. You are attempting to abdicate responsibility for your poor performance. The thing about our situations is that we always have to make choices. And sometimes we look for ways to avoid this. That avoidance is bad faith.
Facticity and Change
Facticity is not static. Our facticity can change in innumerable ways which is why we are always in ever changing situations. And, of course, the choices we make changes our situation.
The big challenge here is that it is all too easy to give in to the temptation of bad faith. As we age, the situations where that temptation is manifest seem to arise far more frequently than they used to.
Perhaps it is one of the inevitable consequences of ageing. Or perhaps when we were younger we had less time to think about our situations.
So, what are the consequences of facticity for ageing? Let’s take a look.
The Ageing Body: An Unyielding Facticity
As we age, the changes in our body become one of the most visible aspects of our facticity. Our skin wrinkles, our joints ache, and we’re no longer able to run as fast or lift as much.
This is part of the hand we are dealt as time goes on. However, how much of this decline is truly inevitable? And how much of it is shaped by the choices we’ve made over the years?
Could we have done more to transcend our physical limits? Can we still?
It’s tempting to think that this physical decline is the unchangeable core of our facticity. But take a moment to consider those who defy this: older individuals who maintain incredible fitness, flexibility, or strength.
Were they born lucky, or did they simply refuse to be confined by the facticity of age?
Okay, we can’t outrun time, but we often give in far too early. The temptation to attribute our limitations to our age is, often, overwhelming.
But, there is always room to transcend.
Mental Facticity: Decline or Expansion?
The mental aspect of ageing is another area where facticity comes into play. It’s easy to think that as we age, our minds inevitably slow down, our memories fade, our concentration wavers.
Let’s face it, as we age most of us feel that our mental sharpness is not what it was. But is this really a fixed facticity, or do we, perhaps, choose a form of cognitive laziness?
Consider this: if you stop challenging your mind, stop learning new things, stop engaging in stimulating conversation, there is every chance that your cognitive abilities will decline.
Yet, we tend to chalk this up to “just getting old.” But look around at those who continue to push their intellectual limits well into their later years—scientists, artists, writers. They choose to transcend the mental facticity of ageing by staying active and engaged.
Take Nirad Chaudhuri who published his first book, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, when he was 54. He published a sequel at aged 90 and a final work at aged 100.
Okay, so Chaudhuri is an exception, but the truth is, our mental facticity isn’t as fixed as we think. It’s shaped by choices, and it can be expanded, not just diminished, as we grow older.
Bad Faith and Ageing: “That’s Just Age for You”
One of the most pervasive expressions of bad faith as we age is the phrase “that’s just age for you.” How often do you hear it?
Or worse, how often do you say it?
It’s an excuse we use to explain away everything from forgetfulness to fatigue. But really, it’s bad faith in action.
Blaming age for everything is a way of avoiding responsibility. You tell yourself that because you’re getting older, you can’t possibly achieve certain things, so why bother trying? There is, I admit, a certain comfort in that.
It’s all too easy, isn’t it, to convince yourself that certain doors are closed. It’s way too easy to just accept that certain opportunities are no longer within reach.
And that is precisely what Sartre called living in bad faith – denying your own freedom by pretending your facticity is all there is.
The Illusion of Fixed Facticity: Challenging Stereotypes of Age
Society doesn’t help, either. This is a facet of Sartre’s evocative phrase that hell is other people. The Gaze of others is always on us. And the way other perceive and judge us can affect the way we behave.
The narratives around ageing – those stories that tell us we’ll inevitably slow down, become frail, lose our purpose – can make us feel trapped in our situation, trapped by our facticity.
We are tempted to buy into these stereotypes because they’re so deeply ingrained. And yet, they’re just that: stereotypes. Not facticity.
There are countless examples of people who defy these narratives. There are many, many examples of ordinary people who do extra-ordinary things in older age.
These individuals are not bound by their age or the societal expectations that come with it. They’re in a situation, yes, but they choose to transcend it.
Transcending the Ageing Process
So how do you exercise transcendence in the face of ageing? What choices can you still make to redefine your situation?
One approach is to choose radically new paths in later life. People have reinvented themselves in retirement. It’s not unusual for people to pursue new careers, or extreme sports, or new intellectual challenges.
Ageing doesn’t have to mean settling down. In fact, it could be a time of ultimate freedom, a moment where you’re no longer bound by the constraints of earlier life and can make truly liberating choices.
The Fear of Transcendence in Later Life
But let’s be honest: as we age, the fear of change and of pushing ourselves beyond comfort becomes more pronounced.
The temptation to remain where we are—mentally, physically, emotionally—grows stronger. This is where bad faith really comes into play. The risks of not choosing transcendence are higher. We fall into inertia, telling ourselves it’s “too late” or “not worth it anymore.”
But it’s exactly as we age that transcendence becomes even more important. The older you get, the more essential it is to keep making difficult choices.
Conclusion: Ageing as an Act of Freedom
In the end, ageing doesn’t have to be a retreat. It can be an act of freedom. Your facticity may change—your body and mind will undoubtedly face new limitations—but your ability to transcend remains. You can continue to make choices that redefine your situation.
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