What is L'en soi and Le pour soi in the thought of Jean-Paul Sartre?

For Sartre, the "in itself" (en-soi) refers to things in the world that simply "are". They are inert, passive, and are not open to change. They can be identified, defined, and objectified. They have an "essence," as Sartre puts it. The "for-itself" (pour-soi), on the other hand, refers to consciousness. According to Sartre, consciousness is "no-thing-ness" because it cannot be defined and it does not settle into a stable identity. The for-itself is always changing, always becoming something else by the choices that it makes.





The in-itself/for-itself distinction is at the core of Sartre's account of self-hood. Sartre says that the "for-itself" (the conscious self) has a habit of defining itself objectively (in social roles and expectations). The for-itself has a tendency to reduce itself to an in-itself by labelling itself, or by accepting labels that other people put on it. The "for-itself" thus has a tendency to lie to itself; Sartre calls this "bad faith."





In order for the "for-itself" to truly reach its full potential, it is to shake off all of the labels and categories that reduce it to a "thing-in-itself" and choose its own path in life. That is, the self is to avoid objectifying itself and is to affirm itself as a free consciousness that capitalizes on the possibilities it possesses. As Sartre puts it, "existence" comes before "essence" --- existing by choosing your path in life comes before any attempt to define yourself as a definite thing.





Hope this helps.





Cheers.