A Comparative Study of "Freedom" and "Responsibility" from the Viewpoint of Ayatollah Misbah and Jean-Paul Sartre

"Freedom" and its boundaries have long been considered by humans. As a limiting factor for human’s freedom, "responsibility" has also been discussed by philosophers of ethics. Ayatollah Misbah and Jean-Paul Sartre are among the philosophers who have focused on these two issues. Since one of these two philosophers is a Muslim and monotheist, and the other one belongs to the atheistic school of Existentialism, they naturally have many disputes and disagreements about man’s "freedom" and "responsibility". Sartre considers man as equal to freedom, and argues that the only state in which man is not free is when he cannot be free. He also believes in a global responsibility for man. On the other hand, Ayatollah Misbah emphasizes on human’s freedom and believes in a variety of responsibilities for human. Given the great difference between the views of these two philosophers, the present paper examines their views in a comparative way.