Summary
Highlights
Jean-Paul Sartre believed that human beings experience anguish not due to suffering, but because we are 'condemned to be free.' We are thrown into existence, become self-aware, and are forced to make choices. Even inaction is a choice. Sartre argued that every choice we make reveals our conception of what a human being should be.
Unlike a pen knife, which has a pre-existing blueprint or 'essence,' Sartre contended there is no design for human beings. We are not defined by a divine purpose or a fixed human nature. In his 1945 lecture, 'Existentialism is a Humanism,' Sartre famously stated that for humans, 'existence precedes essence,' meaning we create our own essence through our actions and choices.
Sartre's philosophy emphasizes that individuals create themselves through their choices in a world devoid of fixed values. This self-creation brings heightened anguish because every sincere decision not only shapes the individual but also presents an image of what humanity should be. Therefore, one must act as if their choices are a model for all humanity, a responsibility from which there is no escape.