Summary: Existentialism Is a Humanism

Sartre outlines the criticisms that the philosophical movement he helped to initiate—existentialism—has provoked: quietism (the futility of action), pessimism, and individualism. In response to these objections, he seeks to demonstrate that existentialism is, in fact, a form of humanism.

Two types of existentialism can be distinguished: Christian existentialism (Jaspers, G. Marcel) and atheistic existentialism (Heidegger, Sartre). What unites these diverse approaches is their shared belief that human beings are defined by the principle that existence precedes essence.

This means that there is no pre-established concept of humanity to which I must conform. I am free to become whatever I choose; throughout my life, I will determine what I am, and at any moment, I can become something different from what I am at that instant.

Man is nothing at first. He only comes to be afterwards, and he will be as he has made himself ¹. Hence the first principle of existentialism: Man is nothing other than what he makes of himself ².

For objects, the reverse is true. Sartre illustrates this with the example of a letter opener: the concept of a letter opener defines a specific utility, a precise function for this object. This is its essence—what it is. This essence precedes its existence: we construct the object, bringing it into existence so that it serves this function, and it does not evolve.

If man is nothing other than what he makes of himself—the first principle of existentialism—then he is entirely responsible for what he is. Moreover, he bears responsibility for all of humanity. Indeed, to make a choice is implicitly to affirm that what is chosen has value, and not just for oneself, but for everyone: In choosing myself, I choose everyone ³. Thus, our responsibility is absolute, as Sartre argues in Existentialism Is a Humanism, and this generates anguish within us.

Sartrian existentialism takes as its starting point the premise that God does not exist. As a result, there is no longer any human nature, no moral standards, no inherent good or evil. Indeed, there is no supreme intellect that could have established these notions. It is up to each of us to determine what is right, what is wrong, and what a human being should be.

"If God did not exist, everything would be permissible," says Dostoevsky; this is the starting point of existentialism ⁴.

Or, as Sartre puts it: We are alone, without excuses. This is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free ⁵.

Sartre provides an example to illustrate the idea that man is condemned, at every moment, to invent himself ⁶. He presents a dilemma: should I abandon my sick mother and join the Resistance? Nothing can guide me—Christian or Kantian morality is too abstract and vague to offer an answer. The only solution is to make a decision and take full responsibility for it.

This explains why existentialism is not a form of quietism: far from paralysing action, it demands commitment. Man has reality only through his actions. He is nothing other than the sum of his actions, his life. This is not a particularly comforting doctrine for those who have failed in life—for if I have failed, I alone am responsible for that failure.

At the same time, it is not a pessimistic doctrine, since man's destiny lies within himself ⁷. He is a free consciousness, not a thing, as in materialism, which reduces him to a mere object among others, determined by economic forces.

Existentialism is not individualism; it simply begins with the truth of the cogito, Descartes' "I think, therefore I am," because it is a certain proposition. However, the cogito encompasses not only the experience of consciousness grasping itself but also the recognition of the certainty of other consciousnesses. In existentialism, man is not enclosed within his own subjectivity but placed within the world of intersubjectivity.

¹ L’existentialisme est un humanisme, Gallimard, Folio, Paris, 2010, p.29
² p.30
³ p.33
⁴ p.39
⁵ ibid.
⁶ p.40
⁷ p.56