Abstract: Since Sartrean existentialism has always been as much concerned about moral issues in literature and social life as ethical literary criticism do, it is practicable to make a dialogue between the two schools of criticism. For Sartre, the self is conjectured as an absolutely solitary being, which results in his preference for the authenticity of the self, rather than ethical responsibility, as the moral standard of decision-making, and his misunderstanding of hesitation before moral choice as bad faith. From the perspective of ethical literary criticism, however, freedom cannot be purely a subjective value, for it can only be felt and cherished when the self is conscious of the needs of other moral subjects. The essence of ethical choice is the relationship between the self and others, which means not only ethical responsibility for each other, but also mutual understanding, sympathy, and forgivingness. For ethical literary criticism, ethical identity and responsibility are not viewed as restrictions on freedom, which is a profound understanding of the essential being, and enriches the meaning of freedom in a new dimension.

Key words: ethical literary criticism, existentialism, free choice, ethical responsibility