“Existence Precedes Essence:” An Explanation of Existentialism
While the philosophical and literary movement considered Existentialism was active primarily in the middle of the 20th Century, the title of “father of Existentialism” is placed on the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who died in 1855. A strong supportive role in Existentialism’s development is granted to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Existentialism adheres to the Continental tradition stemming from the writings of Gottfried Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Differing from the Analytic tradition, Continental philosophy asserts that human beings can have an understanding of things beyond what they can experience through the use of their senses alone. Though Hegel produced this argument to create a system which would explain a universal system, Sartre’s use of the concept had the goal of allowing an individual to access and understand his or her own consciousness and the relationship consciousness had to its subjects. In his work Being and Nothingness, Sartre outlines a system in which consciousness is split into dual categories. Consciousness which has a true knowledge of its own workings outside of its relations to anything in the perceptible world, including itself, is said to be “in-itself” and exists outside of and transcendent to normal consciousness, while consciousness is defined as “of-itself” when it defines its existence through its relation to experiential phenomena, including the use of consciousness to try and understand itself. Consciousness, in Sartre’s definition, is also transparent and can identify its state while imposing action. The idea of nothingness is another major component to Sartre’s existentialist system, since it is defined as a quality ascribed to things through consciousness and is not an inherent quality which exists within things themselves and that consciousness must in fact choose to ascribe the quality of nothingness to something for it to hold that quality. In consciousness’ ability to choose, Sartre developed the argument that consciousness is innately free. However, consciousness’ understanding of the concept of nothingness can inhibit its ability to exist “in-itself” by ascribing the quality to the version of itself which existed before the state of contemplation. As a result, a sense of duality is created within consciousness, creating relations between pre- and post-states of consciousness, resulting in consciousness’ becoming “of-itself” instead of “in-itself” and promoting a disintegration of Self-Identity. Sartre argues that the individual mode of consciousness, whether “in-itself” or “for-itself,” of a single agent achieves expression in the world through implementing what he terms “projects.” Sartre’s idea of projects functions in a similar way to Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch. Such projects are what provide the structure and meaning to a human life, much in the way that Kierkegaard’s construct, the knight of faith, operates in the world. It is possible to undertake bad projects in Sartre’s view and these are the result of an individual discarding his or her own essence in the service of acting in a role which is not his or her own. Bad projects misrepresent the definition of “for-itself” consciousness to individuals, though the transparency of consciousness alludes an individual to the state of his or her actions. Whether or not an individual chooses to act on this knowledge is a matter of whether he or she operates in his or her own project or continues operating in a bad project. Existentialism also contains a strong, ethical component. Though Sartre espouses the need for individuals to enact their own projects, these should not come at the expense of other individuals’ ability to enact their own projects. Such universal claims on ethics are derived from Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy. However, Sartre’s reasoning for this differs from Kant’s in that Kant’s were based on an objective viewpoint on morality while Existentialism relies on subjective understanding’s being transferred to other subjects as a means of understanding. Sartre also argues that individual actions have a universal dimension to them, which should be accounted for in choosing actions and projects. Sartre does not deny religion a function in Existentialism, arguing that the strong moral foundation which religion provides can prove a necessity for some individuals and that atheism was a choice of the individual, not a quality of the movement as a whole. Sartre defended himself and other existentialists in his work against those who decried his system by explaining that the base of Existentialism rested on the principle that everything started from the subjective.Major Figures in the Existentialist Movement and Their Works
Jean-Paul Sartre: The first to describe the Existentialist system.Key Works:
- Being and Nothingness - Establishes the Existentialist philosophy - Existentialism is a Humanism - A counter-argument defending Existentialism Simone de Beauvoir: Philosophical partner of Jean-Paul Sartre. Also wrote novels along with her philosophical writings.Key Works:
- The Ethics of Ambiguity - Argues that freedom for all individuals must exist for it to become an actuality - The Second Sex - Chronicles women’s existence as underprivileged citizens and argues for an equality of societal access between men and women Martin Heidigger: One of the original German philosophers to take up Existentialism.Key Works:
- Being and Time - Work concerning the nature of the basis of knowledge and the individual’s relationship to the world Albert Camus: French-Algerian poet and novelist. Befriended Jean-Paul Sartre and later parted ways with him. Famous for his incorporation of existentialist ideas into his writings.Key Works:
- The Stranger - Camus’ magnum opus - The Myth of Sisyphus - Short story illustrating how Existentialism’s ideas of bad projectsAdditional Resources
Existentialism - Simplified breakdown of Sartre’s primary ideas in his Existentialist works Existentialism is a Humanism - Two-part examination (Part 1 & Part 2) of Sartre’s defense of Existentialism Existential Primer: Introduction - Thorough history of the development of Existentialism