Existentialism Is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre: Study & Analysis Guide

In the aftermath of World War II, Jean-Paul Sartre delivered a public lecture that would become one of the most accessible and provocative introductions to existentialist thought. Existentialism Is a Humanism is not merely a philosophical text; it is a passionate defense against critics who accused existentialism of promoting despair and moral nihilism. Sartre argues that his philosophy is, in fact, the only foundation for an authentic and responsible humanism, one that places the burden and glory of creating meaning squarely on our own shoulders. Understanding this work is crucial for grappling with the fundamental questions of freedom, identity, and ethics in a world without inherent purpose.

Existence Precedes Essence: The Foundational Axiom

Sartre’s entire philosophy rests on the principle that existence precedes essence. To understand this, consider a manufactured object, like a paper-cutter. A craftsman conceives of its essence—its purpose as a tool for cutting paper—before it is brought into existence. In this case, essence precedes existence. For centuries, humanity was viewed similarly, whether by a divine creator (in Christian theology) or by a deterministic historical process (in some Marxist thought). Humans were thought to possess a pre-defined nature or purpose.

Sartre reverses this. He asserts that with humans, and humans alone, existence comes first. We are born not with a pre-installed purpose or nature, but merely thrown into existence. We exist first, and then, through our choices and actions, we define our own essence. You are not born a "hero" or a "coward"; you become one through the life you live. This principle is the source of both our radical freedom and our profound responsibility, liberating us from predetermined roles but also stripping away any external excuse for what we become.

Radical Freedom and Absolute Responsibility

If there is no predetermined human nature, then we are condemned to be free. This condemnation is not a punishment but an inescapable condition of human consciousness. You are free at every moment to choose your actions, your projects, and your values. This freedom is terrifying because it is absolute and inalienable; even refusing to choose is itself a choice. From this radical freedom flows an absolute responsibility.

You are responsible not only for yourself but, in a profound sense, for all of humanity. When you make a choice—for instance, to commit to a romantic relationship, a political cause, or an artistic life—you are implicitly affirming that this is a valid way for a human being to live. You are creating an image of humanity as you believe it ought to be. As Sartre famously states, "In choosing myself, I choose man." There is no hiding behind God, nature, or social norms to justify your actions. You are the sole author of your life’s meaning, and you bear the full weight of that authorship.

Bad Faith: The Flight from Freedom

Because this responsibility is so burdensome, we are often tempted to flee from it. Sartre calls this flight bad faith. Bad faith is a form of self-deception where we lie to ourselves to deny our own freedom and responsibility. It involves pretending that we are not free, that we are determined by external forces.

Common examples include the waiter who over-identifies with his role, acting as if he is a "waiter" by essence rather than a free person temporarily performing a job, or the person who claims, "I can't change, that's just how I am," treating their personality as a fixed object. Bad faith is the inauthentic life. It is choosing to see oneself as a thing with a fixed essence (what Sartre calls the en-soi, or "in-itself") rather than as a conscious, free, becoming subject (the pour-soi, or "for-itself"). The path to authenticity requires the courage to recognize and embrace your constitutive freedom, even when it causes anguish.

Anguish, Abandonment, and Despair: The Emotions of Authenticity

Sartre reframes the emotions most often criticized as existentialist pessimism—anguish, abandonment, and despair—as the necessary conditions for an authentic life. They are not pathologies but honest responses to the human condition.

Anguish is the direct emotional awareness of our total freedom and responsibility. It is the feeling you get when you realize that your choice sets an example for all people, with no guarantee of its correctness. Sartre uses the example of a military officer responsible for sending men into battle; the officer feels anguish because the decision rests solely with him. Abandonment refers to the realization that we are alone in a godless universe, without divine guidance or objective moral laws to rely on. We are "abandoned" to our own devices. Despair means we must act without hope, limiting our calculations to the strictly possible—to the factors we can influence—since the future is contingent on the free actions of others. Together, these states force us to engage with the world as it is, not as we wish it were.

Critical Perspectives and Sartre’s Own Revisions

While Existentialism Is a Humanism brilliantly clarifies and defends core existentialist ideas, it is important to engage with it critically. Sartre himself later distanced himself from some arguments in this lecture, calling it a "mistake" that oversimplified his position. Marxist critics argued that Sartre’s focus on individual freedom ignored the material and social constraints of class, economics, and history. They contended that his philosophy was a bourgeois individualism ill-suited for collective political struggle.

Furthermore, some philosophers question whether Sartre successfully grounds an objective ethics in radical subjectivity. If we all invent our own values, what prevents a descent into moral relativism or solipsism? Sartre’s answer—that in choosing for myself I choose for all—relies on a universalizing impulse that some find logically shaky. Analyzing these critiques deepens your understanding of the text’s enduring debates: the tension between individual autonomy and social reality, and the challenge of building an ethics on a foundation of absolute freedom.

Summary

• The core axiom is "existence precedes essence." Humans are not born with a predefined purpose; we define ourselves through our free choices and actions, creating our essence over a lifetime.
• This leads to radical freedom and absolute responsibility. We are "condemned to be free," and with that freedom comes the burden of being the sole author of our values, acting as a legislator for all humanity.
• "Bad faith" is the inauthentic denial of this freedom. It is the self-deception of pretending we are determined by roles, nature, or circumstances to avoid the anxiety of choice.
• Anguish, abandonment, and despair are not negatives but authentic states. They are honest emotional responses to a godless universe where we must choose without guarantee, relying only on our own judgment and the realm of the possible.
• The lecture is a gateway, not a full system. While essential for understanding Sartrean existentialism, it was later critiqued by Sartre himself and others for potentially overlooking social determinants and presenting an incomplete ethical framework. Its power lies in its forceful, accessible call to embrace the terrifying and liberating project of creating a meaningful self.