Unrealizable

Unrealizable is Sartre’s term for an ideal that is inherently unattainable but nevertheless directs human conduct. Its force lies in the striving it organizes, not in the prospect of eventual achievement.

Definition and Scope

The term applies to ideals common to human reality as such. It does not denote a concrete, individual objective that some people might accomplish while others do not. The distinction is between a goal that happens to remain unmet and an ideal whose unattainability belongs to its nature.

Function in Human Conduct

Although it cannot be realized, the ideal dominates conduct: people strive to realize what, by definition, cannot be reached. The concept therefore describes a persistent orientation rather than a completed state. Its influence is practical even when its fulfillment is impossible.

Relation to Sartre’s Account of Value

This notion connects with Sartre’s account of value, which arises as the For-itself constitutes objects as desirable. More specifically, value is described as what the For-itself lacks in order to be itself, the beyond toward which it reaches in seeking unity with itself. Unrealizable clarifies the structure of such striving at the level of ideals shared across human reality: the guiding aim can shape action without becoming an attainable possession or final condition.