Existentialism is a humanism, by Jean-Paul Sartre: conference summary and analysis

"Existentialism is a humanism" (1945) is a lecture (later published as a book) in which Jean-Paul Sartre explains the essential ideas of his existentialism with practical examples.

The conference took place at the club Maintenant, created at the end of World War II and exceeded all attendance expectations.

Conference summary

At the conference, Sartre begins by pointing out some criticisms and ideas wrongly associated with the existentialism, and continues clarifying what it consists of, and responding to some misinterpretations of its philosophy.

According to Sarte, critics of existentialism argued that it:

• Emphasizes the negative and bad aspects of life.
• He invites quietness, that is, not to act in the face of circumstances.
• Being based on the subjectivity of the I think, he ignores the social and communal character of humanity.
• He invites anarchy, since he rules out the possibility that values ​​are given a priori (without grounds), etc.

Sartre goes on to clarify what it means for existence to precede essence. This slogan affirms man as a free being and as a project that is realized and affirmed in his experience.

Next, he clarifies some key terms of existentialism that in the light of this philosophy acquire new meanings, such as anguish, bad faith, despair.

The lecture ends by explaining one of the critical aspects of his philosophy, and, perhaps, the one most explored in his plays: the understanding of oneself in relation to others. This analysis focuses on individual freedom in relation to the freedom of others.

Conference analysis

According to Sartre, existentialism is based on two fundamental questions:

• The Cartesian "I think", that is, the moment when man is captured in his solitude.
• The principle derived from Cartesian subjectivity which is that "existence precedes essence".

What does "existence precedes essence" mean?

"Existence precedes essence" is the principle that all forms of existentialism have in common. He flatly rules out the preexistence of a human nature or essence that can determine man in any way. The idea of ​​some creator God, demiurge or craftsman who has created man and, therefore, a human nature or essence is disbelieved. In Sartre's words, a God who when he creates knows precisely what he creates.

Existentialism starts, therefore, from the subjectivity of man who thinks and acquires self-awareness, and, as such, is a man who begins by being nothing and becomes in his existence: "he begins by existing, finds himself, arises in the world and then becomes define ".

Man is, in this way, what he chooses to make of himself, what he does in his life project.

You may also like Existentialism: characteristics, authors and works.

Is man free?

Since existence precedes essence:

• The existence of a human nature that can determine man is completely ruled out.
• There is no scale of values ​​determined a priori, without any foundation, to guide his actions.

Man "is abandoned: he finds neither within himself nor outside himself what to cling to." That is, he must interpret all the signs for himself and decide where to direct his life project, fully aware that he cannot (or should not) make decisions based on excuses. It is each man who decides how to interpret the signs, circumstances and vicissitudes of the world.

To explain this point Sartre gives us the example of Abraham in the Bible. Abraham hears a voice, but it is Abraham himself who decides whether the voice he hears corresponds to an angel.

See also Man is doomed to be free by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Freedom implies responsibility

If existence precedes essence and man is the project of what he chooses to be, then he must also assume his own responsibility for what he makes of himself.

There is no higher order that determines, constrains or binds it in any way. Man must take responsibility for his own conscience, choose his values ​​and make his own decisions. Existentialism seeks:

(...) put every man in possession of what he is, and lay on him the total responsibility for his existence (Sartre).

But this also implies that man makes his decisions in a responsible way with respect to all humanity.

For this reason, Sartre invites you to make exemplary decisions: I choose what kind of person I want to be, and, in doing so, I must choose responsibly with respect to the rest of humanity.

In a very practical way, Sartre invites us to ask ourselves what would happen if everyone did the same as me? Therefore:

(...) there is none of our acts that, in creating the man we want to be, does not at the same time create an image of man as we consider him to be (Sartre).

Practical teachings of Sartre's existentialism

• You can choose to fight the established powers, get out of your own condition, break tradition, and take "attempts not based on experience."
• It is I myself who decides how to interpret the signs of the world and what is their meaning.
• I must consider my possibilities, only if they are within my field of action: if they allow me to take some action and therefore the course of my destiny. Otherwise, I must be disinterested because I cannot pretend that the world adapts to my will.
• Man is the reality of the actions carried out in his life project. Not your dreams, hopes, affections, contradictions. In reality it must be judged according to the actions taken in his life.

Reading of the conference "Existentialism is a humanism"

If you are interested in learning more about the conference, you can listen to his reading below.

First part of the conference

Second part of the conference

About Jean-Paul Sartre

He is born in Paris (1905). He studied at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure from where he graduated with honors of his Ph.D. in Philosophy (1929).

He was a philosopher, writer, literary critic, and political activist. As a philosopher he is one of the greatest exponents of existentialism. He is also well known for his relationship with the philosopher and pioneer of feminism, Simone de Beauvoir.

His most outstanding philosophical work is Being and Nothingness, and the best known literary works of him are Nausea, and the play Behind closed doors.

He rejected the Nobel Prize for Literature because he believed that no institution should mediate between man and culture.

Main works

Here is a list of the main works of Jean-Paul Sartre.

Philosophy

• Being and Nothingness
• the existentialism is a Humanism
• Critique of dialectical reason

Novels

• Nausea
• The paths of freedom
• The die is cast

Theater

• The flies
• Behind closed doors
• Dead without burial
• The respectful whore
• Dirty hands
• The devil and god

Literary criticism

• Baudelaire
• Saint Genet: comedian and martyr
• The idiot of the family (about Flaubert)

You may also like 7 essential works of Jean-Paul Sartre.

Graduated in Literature and Humanities from the Universidad de los Andes (2009), she took courses in literary translation with the Colombian and Mexican translators associations, ACTTI and AMMETLI, and official translation associations at the Javeriana University (2017).