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Introduction
Nothingness is an existential concept most associated with Jean Paul Sartre.
Have you ever had a moment where you become acutely conscious of some particularly challenging task that lies before you? Let’s say an important job interview.
Can you remember how you felt? Undoubtedly, you’d have felt nervous. You might, as the day approaches, have felt almost sick. And unless you are a very unusual human being you probably felt a degree of anxiety that made you pretty uncomfortable.
Sartre would explain this as your confronting the nothingness (the gap) that exists between you as a human being and the world of things. Yes, I know, it sounds absurd. But let me explain further, because what we have here is another of Sartre’s exquisite insights to the human condition.
I have written previously about Sartre’s idea that we are condemned to be free. Human beings are not born ready made – in Sartre’s language we have no essence. Our choices throughout life, determine what we become. Our existence precedes our essence.
There are certain things, like our height and our sporting prowess, that we can’t do much about. Sartre calls this our facticity – the hand we are dealt.
Of course, we may change things to a small degree. A good diet and and training regimen may make us into decent marathon runners. But for that vast majority of us, no matter what we do, we will never reach international class.
How we respond to our facticity, Sartre refers to as transcendence. Transcendence is the attitude we take to our circumstances – we can’t change the circumstances in which we find ourselves, but our response to our circumstances is down to us.
We can, of course, deceive ourselves that we can’t do anything about how we respond to our circumstances. Sartre refers to this as bad faith. Remember, for Sartre, we have to choose – we are condemned to be free.
Being free sounds like a positive thing, which it can be. It can also be an overwhelming burden, because it means taking responsibility for ourselves, which we do by making choices.
Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we didn’t have to make these choices and didn’t have to shoulder the burden of responsibility? Things – trees, rocks, tables, flowers, doors – don’t have to make choices. Life must be so much easier if you are a tree!
But trees are not conscious: we human beings are. Consciousness (human consciousness) Sartre called being-for-itself. The world of things he called being-in-itself.
The word being means existence – humans exist; things exist. For-itself refers to a type of (human) existence that is self-aware. In-itself refers to a type of existence that is not self-aware.
Just a note here, Sartre did not explore the consciousness of other creatures like the higher primates and dolphins that we now recognise as having a type of consciousness that is self-aware.
So, Let’s go back to your job interview and the nervousness and anxiety you are feeling. Saying that you are confronting the nothingness (the gap) that exists between you as a human being and the world of things may now begin to make sense.
The nothingness is not a real gap. It is a metaphor that expresses the impossibility of human beings becoming a thing like a tree. I know that sounds strange. But as a human being who is facing the metaphorical gap you are experiencing some pretty uncomfortable emotions, like anxiety.
If you could bridge the gap and become, for example, a tree, your discomfort would disappear. It would disappear because as a thing your essence is fixed. No more choices required.
But your essence is not fixed. It is always being formed by your choices, You have to fill the gap by making choices. And remember, even not choosing is a choice.
You may act as though you are a thing; as though you have a fixed essence. You may deceive yourself by saying that you never prepare for interviews because you’re so bad at preparing. And again, we are back to Sartre’s idea of bad faith.
The truth is we are always in the process of creating ourselves – we are always trying to fill the gap. But nothingness always opens up because we always have to make choices.
Ageing as a Confrontation with Nothingness
Ageing is perhaps one of the most profound encounters with nothingness that we face. When we are young, the world is full of possibilities, and we are busy making choices that define our lives. We are choosing our careers, forming relationships, and pursuing dreams.
But as we grow older, we start to realise that many of those choices are now behind us. The world that once seemed full of endless possibilities has narrowed, and we are forced to confront the reality of who we have become.
This is where the concept of nothingness becomes so important. Ageing brings us face to face with the gap between what we imagined our lives would be and what they have actually become.
This gap, this nothingness, isn’t just a theoretical idea—it’s something we feel deeply as we watch our roles in society change, our children grow up, or our physical abilities decline.
Many of us struggle with this realisation. We cling to our past identities, trying to hold onto the notion that we are still the person we once were. But Sartre would argue that this is simply another form of bad faith.
The truth is that we are always in the process of becoming, always making choices that shape our existence. Ageing, far from being the end of this process, is just another stage in the continual creation of our essence.
However, the process of ageing confronts us with the inescapable fact that time is finite. In this sense, nothingness also represents the future, the inevitable reality that we are moving closer to death.
This knowledge can be terrifying, but it also opens up the possibility for profound freedom. In facing our mortality, we are reminded that the choices we make now are more important than ever. The nothingness of the future is not fixed—it is still open, and we still have the freedom to fill it with meaning.
2. The Facticity of Ageing: Limitations and Realities
One of the most significant challenges we face as we age is the growing awareness of our physical facticity. Facticity, in Sartre’s philosophy, refers to the unchangeable aspects of our existence—the things about ourselves that we cannot alter.
In youth, we may not think much about facticity, but as we age, it becomes impossible to ignore.
The body’s limitations become more apparent with every passing year. Wrinkles, aches, failing eyesight, and slower reflexes remind us that we are subject to the laws of nature.
We cannot escape the biological realities of ageing. Our bodies are no longer as they once were, and no amount of exercise, diet, or medical intervention can completely halt the process.
But Sartre would argue that even within these limitations, we are still free. Our facticity may limit what we can do, but it does not determine how we respond to those limitations.
This is where the concept of transcendence comes into play. Transcendence is our ability to go beyond our facticity by choosing how we react to the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
For example, you may no longer be able to participate in physically demanding activities like you once did, but you may find new ways to engage with the world.
you might choose to take up new hobbies, develop new intellectual pursuits, or focus on relationships. These are acts of transcendence—ways of rising above the physical limitations of ageing and making meaningful choices in the face of facticity.
What’s more, ageing can also bring a greater sense of wisdom and perspective. While the body may weaken, the mind and spirit can grow stronger, allowing us to make more thoughtful, considered choices.
In this way, the nothingness of physical decline can be transformed into an opportunity for transcendence, for becoming more fully ourselves.
3. Bad Faith and Ageing: Self-Deception in Later Life
As we age, the temptation to fall into bad faith can grow stronger. Bad faith, in Sartre’s view, is the act of deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are not truly free. It’s a way of avoiding the responsibility that comes with freedom by pretending that our essence is fixed – like the essence of a thing – and unchangeable.
One of the most common forms of bad faith in later life is the denial of ageing itself. Many people go to great lengths to maintain the appearance of youth, investing in cosmetic procedures, anti-ageing products, and extreme fitness regimens.
While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel good, these efforts can sometimes become a form of self-deception. By trying to cling to a past identity, we may be avoiding the reality of our changing selves and refusing to engage with the nothingness that ageing presents.
Another form of bad faith is resignation. Some people, when faced with the challenges of ageing, simply give up. They tell themselves that they are “too old to change” or that “life is behind them.” This attitude is just as much a form of bad faith as denying ageing altogether. It’s an abdication of responsibility, a way of avoiding the hard work of making choices in the face of nothingness.
But bad faith is not inevitable. We can choose to face ageing with authenticity, accepting the realities of our situation while still recognising our freedom.
Authenticity, in Sartre’s terms, means acknowledging both our facticity and our transcendence. It means facing the nothingness of ageing head-on and making choices that reflect who we truly are, rather than clinging to outdated identities or giving in to despair.
4. Ageing and the Anxiety of Nothingness
Anxiety is a natural part of the human experience, but it becomes particularly pronounced as we age. This anxiety is not just about physical decline or loss of social status—it’s a deep, existential anxiety rooted in our awareness of nothingness.
As we grow older, we become more acutely aware of the finite nature of life. The nothingness that Sartre speaks of is not just the gap between ourselves and the world of things, but also the looming presence of death—the ultimate nothingness.
For Sartre, anxiety is the price we pay for freedom. The knowledge that we are free to make choices is both exhilarating and terrifying, especially as we age.
Every choice carries with it the weight of responsibility, and as time passes, the stakes feel higher. The nothingness we face in later life is not just the void of death, but also the emptiness of possibilities not yet realised.
However, Sartre believed that this anxiety could be a source of power. It is through confronting nothingness and the anxiety it brings that we come to understand the full scope of our freedom.
Even in the face of death, we are still free to choose how we live, how we respond to our circumstances, and how we shape the remainder of our lives.
This is where many people find meaning in their later years. The knowledge of nothingness, far from being paralysing, can motivate us to seek out new experiences, deepen relationships, or pursue passions that we may have neglected in our younger years.
By accepting the anxiety of nothingness, and making our choices, we can find a renewed sense of purpose and vitality, even in the face of life’s inevitable end.
5. Freedom and Responsibility in Later Life
Sartre famously and dramatically said that we are “condemned to be free.” This means that, no matter our circumstances, we are always free to make choices – indeed, we have no choice about making choices.
This freedom does not diminish with age—in fact, it may become even more important as we grow older. While we may have fewer choices available to us in later life, the freedom to choose how we respond to those circumstances remains.
With freedom comes responsibility. As we age, we are responsible for the choices we make about how we live our lives, how we treat others, and how we face the prospect of death.
This responsibility can feel overwhelming at times, but it is also what gives our lives meaning.
One of the most important choices we face in later life is how we want to be remembered. Legacy is a final act of transcendence, a way of shaping the future even as we face the nothingness of death – the final gap.
We are free to choose how we define ourselves in our final years, and that choice will leave a lasting impact on those we leave behind.
Ultimately, ageing is not just about physical decline or the passage of time—it is about the ongoing process of becoming – our essence is never completed.
The nothingness we face is not an obstacle, but an opportunity. It is a reminder that we are never finished, that we are always in the process of creating ourselves through the choices we make. And even in the face of death, we are still free.
Conclusion
The nothingness of ageing is a profound and sometimes unsettling reality, but it is also a source of freedom. As we confront the limitations of our bodies and the inevitability of death, we are reminded that we are always free to choose how we respond to those realities.
Sartre’s philosophy of nothingness, facticity, and transcendence offers a powerful framework for understanding the process of ageing and embracing it with authenticity and courage.
Rather than fearing the nothingness of ageing, we can learn to see it as an opportunity—a space in which we can continue to shape our lives, even in the face of physical decline.
By acknowledging both our limitations and our freedom, we can age with dignity, purpose, and a renewed sense of meaning.
In the end, the nothingness we face is there to be filled with our choices.
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