Question

Sartre tells us that, for human beings, existence precedes essence. What does this mean, and why does it imply that when we make a choice we choose “for all humanity”?

Answer 1

Sartre tells us that, for human beings, existence precedes essence because he believes in existentialism. Existentialism is based on :

• The major premise of existentialism is that the natural sciences (like biology and psychology) or by moral categories (found in religion and social codes) are inadequate to find the meaning of existence and the nature of humanity. In their opinion ‘authenticity’ is a better option.
• Existentialists believe there is no destiny or pre-determined purpose of our lives.

People have complete free will and can make choices about their daily actions in order to make those actions meaningful and ordered despite the lack of meaning and order in the universe. For an existentialist, this is authentic living.