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Existentialism Is a Humanism

Existentialism is a Humanism (L'existentialisme est un humanisme) is a lecture delivered by Jean-Paul Sartre in 1945 and subsequently published, intended as a popular defense of his atheistic existentialist philosophy against the common criticisms that it leads to despair, nihilism, and a denial of moral values. The work’s central thesis and organizing principle is the famous phrase: "existence precedes essence." Sartre argues that, unlike a manufactured object (whose essence, or design, determines its existence), man is born into the world undefined. He first exists, encounters himself, and only afterwards defines himself through his choices and actions. Thus, the individual is not bound by a pre-determined human nature or a divine plan.

This fundamental principle leads to the conclusion that humans are radically free and entirely responsible for who they become. Since there is no God or external moral law to justify decisions, this absolute freedom is the source of anguish (the feeling of total responsibility for all humanity when making a choice), forlornness (the recognition that we are alone, without divine guidance), and despair (the necessity of acting without reliance on external hopes or probabilities). Sartre emphasizes that every choice a person makes, no matter how small, projects an image of what they believe all mankind ought to be. It is this crushing weight of universal responsibility that gives rise to the existential anguish inherent in human freedom.

Sartre concludes by asserting that existentialism is indeed a humanism, but a different kind—one that places the value not in an abstract, universal human nature, but in the subjectivity of the individual who continually makes and remakes himself. This philosophy is not about quietism; it is a doctrine of action and engagement that compels the individual to create their own values and live authentically. The only truly inexcusable act is bad faith—the attempt to deceive oneself by denying this radical freedom and responsibility, for instance, by pretending to be a predetermined object or claiming external forces compel one’s choices. For Sartre, man is nothing other than what he makes of himself, and he is fully realized only in the action and commitment of his existence.