Essay Questions

How does the idea of heaven impact the existence of man?

Simone De Beauvoir expounds, “When a man projects into an ideal heaven that impossible synthesis of the for-itself and the in-itself that is called God, it is because he wishes the regard of this existing Being to change his existence into being; but if he agrees not to be in order to exist genuinely, he will abandon the dream of an inhuman objectivity. He will understand that it is not a matter of being right in the eyes of a God, but of being right in his own eyes. ” Conviction about the reality of heaven encourages one to uphold values that are associated with heaven. Conversely, lack of faith in heaven encourages people to lead life anyhow without upholding morality. Accordingly, believers of heaven are optimistic whereas the non-believers are not.

Deconstruct Dostoevsky's remark “If God does not exist, everything is permitted.”

Simone De Beauvoir expounds, “But if man is free to define for himself the conditions of a life which is valid in his own eyes, can he not choose whatever he likes and act however he likes? Dostoevsky asserted, “If God does not exist, everything is permitted.” Today’s believers use this formula for their own advantage. To re-establish man at the heart of his destiny is, they claim, to repudiate all ethics.” The notion concerning the nonexistence of God gives people the leeway of violating ethics. Subverting ethics becomes acceptable because the violators would not be answerable to God who is the guardian of morality. People who do not believe in God’s reality do not strive to lead a godly existence.

What strategy do tyrants employ in their tyrannical engagements?

Simone De Beauvoir writes, “The trick of tyrants is to enclose a man in the immanence of his facticity and to try to forget that man is always, as Heidegger puts it, "infinitely more than what he would be if he were reduced to being what he is;" man is a being of the distances, a movement toward the future, a project. The tyrant asserts himself as a transcendence; he considers others as pure immanences: he thus arrogates to himself the right to treat them like cattle." The tyrant programs his subjects so that the subjects would consider themselves inferior to the tyrant. Through psychological programing, the subjects' value as human beings is reduced considerably. Once the subjects internalize their lowliness the tyrant oppresses them easily as the subjects would not resist.