Total Institutions and the Last Human Freedom

Abstract

Shortly after the liberation of Paris in 1944 Jean-Paul Sartre declared that ‘We were never more free than during the German Occupation’ (1947: 498). He claimed that during the occupation ‘every French person had the free choice to be part of the resistance… or be an enemy’ (see Gerassi 2009: 122). For Sartre’s critics, this is just one of many examples that confirm Sartre’s exaggerated view of freedom, a freedom he believed to be total and indestructible, a freedom we cannot escape.¹ This chapter explores Sartre’s views on freedom, examines the intellectual currents that undermined Sartre’s existentialism and suggests that the abrupt intellectual shift away from Sartre’s work has overlooked important aspects of his philosophy. Furthermore, it draws on empirical research on total institutions together with the personal accounts of writers who have reflected on their experiences of life within the German concentration camps of the Second World War. The aim is to consider Sartre’s notion of ‘ontological freedom’ and to critically assess Sartre’s claim that, regardless of the circumstance, individuals always have the potential to choose, adapt, interpret and give meaning to their lives.