Existence Precedes Essence
In his 1945 lecture Existentialism Is a Humanism (published in 1946), Jean-Paul Sartre summarized the core axiom of existentialist thought in three words: "Existence precedes essence."
To understand what this means, contrast a manufactured object with a human being:
- Essence Precedes Existence (Objects): When an artisan crafts a paper cutter, the concept, purpose, and design (its "essence") exist in the artisan's mind before the paper cutter is manufactured. The paper cutter has a fixed function: to cut paper.
- Existence Precedes Essence (Humans): A human being is not a manufactured object. We are born into the world without a pre-set purpose. First we exist, encounter ourselves, and act in the world—and only through our actions do we define who we are. There is no fixed "human nature" to blame for your choices; you are the sum total of your actions.
We are not born as finished sculptures; we are the sculptors, carving our character out of the choices we make every day.
Radical Freedom, Anguish, and Bad Faith
Because no external authority (whether God, society, or biology) dictates your purpose, Sartre concluded that human beings possess radical freedom. However, far from being a lighthearted gift, Sartre famously declared that "Man is condemned to be free."
With radical freedom comes total responsibility:
- Anguish (Angst): The dizzying realization that you alone bear responsibility for your life, values, and character. When you make a decision, you cannot shift blame to your upbringing, your horoscope, your genes, or your boss.
- Bad Faith (Mauvaise Foi): Because radical responsibility produces anxiety, most people resort to "Bad Faith"—self-deception wherein we pretend we have no choice. We adopt rigid roles, hide behind rules, or say "I had no choice" to evade responsibility.
- Sartre's Waiter: Sartre described a cafe waiter whose movements are overly dramatic, precise, and eager. The waiter is playing at being a waiter, treating his profession as if it were a fixed physical law of his nature, pretending he has no choice but to be a waiter, thereby committing Bad Faith.
Albert Camus and the Absurd
While Sartre focused on choice, the French-Algerian writer Albert Camus explored what he called The Absurd: the inevitable, painful collision between the human heart's desperate desire for inherent meaning, order, and permanence, and the cold, silent, indifferent universe.
In his essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), Camus examines the Greek myth of Sisyphus—a king condemned by the gods to push a giant boulder up a mountain, only to watch it roll back down to the bottom for eternity:
Camus argues that Sisyphus represents the human condition. We wake up, commute, work, eat, sleep, and repeat, searching for ultimate meaning in a universe that offers none. Camus rejects two common responses to the Absurd:
1. Physical Suicide: Surrendering to despair and ending life. Camus rejects this as an evasion: it gives in to the Absurd rather than living with it.
2. Philosophical Suicide: Inventing comforting religious or ideological dogmas to fabricate false meaning. Camus rejects this as intellectual dishonesty.
Instead, Camus proposes revolt (his word): embracing life passionately, defiantly, and authentically despite its lack of cosmic purpose. At the moment Sisyphus turns to walk back down the mountain to retrieve the boulder, he is conscious of his fate—and in that conscious defiance, he triumphs over his punishment. As Camus famously concluded: "One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
Simone de Beauvoir: Freedom Requires the Freedom of Others
In The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947) and her landmark feminist work The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir expanded existentialism into a profound social and ethical framework.
Beauvoir pointed out that individual freedom does not exist in a vacuum. A person cannot truly exercise authentic freedom if they live in a society where others are oppressed, marginalized, or treated as objects ("The Other"). Therefore, authentic existential freedom requires actively striving for the liberation and agency of others.
Existentialism is ultimately a call to courage. It strips away excuses, invites us to face reality without illusions, and places the paintbrush of meaning squarely in our own hands.
Takeaways
Existentialism asserts that "existence precedes essence"—human beings are not born with a fixed purpose, but must construct their meaning through choices. Radical freedom carries total responsibility, and pretending we have no choices constitutes "bad faith" (mauvaise foi). Facing the "absurdity" of an indifferent universe requires defiant, authentic engagement, while genuine existential freedom demands fighting for the agency and liberation of others.
Action step: Identify one area of your life where you have recently said "I have no choice," and reframe it honestly by writing down three alternative choices you could make, acknowledging your agency.
Sources & Further Reading
Sources
- Jean-Paul Sartre's lecture Existentialism Is a Humanism (delivered October 1945, published 1946) and Being and Nothingness (1943). Albert Camus's essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942). Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947) and The Second Sex (1949).
Go Deeper
- 📘 Existentialism Is a Humanism — Jean-Paul Sartre (the most accessible introduction to Sartre's core ideas)
- 📘 The Myth of Sisyphus — Albert Camus (Camus's brilliant reflection on meaning, rebellion, and the absurd)
- 📘 At the Existentialist Café — Sarah Bakewell (a captivating history of the existentialist movement and its thinkers)
- 🌐 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Existentialism
- 🌐 Related piece in this library: The Meaning Question
For Your Vocabulary
Existentialism (philosophical movement emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice) · Existence Precedes Essence (Sartre's axiom that humans exist first and define their purpose through actions) · Bad Faith (mauvaise foi—self-deception pretending one lacks choices) · The Absurd (the conflict between the human search for meaning and the indifferent universe) · Sisyphus (mythological figure representing the human confrontation with repetitive, absurd existence) · Anguish (angst—the anxiety arising from radical freedom and total responsibility) · Agency (the capacity of an individual to act independently and make free choices) · The Other (Beauvoir's concept of a group defined as subordinate or secondary by a dominant group)