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A review by bittersweet_symphony
Existentialism Is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre
4.0
It is an accessible introduction to the radical philosophy that "existence precedes essence." Sartre offers a fierce challenge to mainstream philosophy and the futile attempts of metaphysics--which fails to give satisfactory answers to existence.
Sartre negates the idea of "human nature" while acknowledging a universal set of "human conditions" wherein we are "condemned to be free" to create our own moral universe. We are thrown into existence and forced to make meaning from the absurd world we occupy. We cannot defer to anybody else for meaning nor can we reject the immense responsibility that comes with our existence as agentic beings. "So choose!"
While existentialism's heyday was in the mid-20th century, it has much to offer in contrast to determinism, materialism, and rationalism which seem to do violence to human dignity and human sovereignty. Often characterized as a philosophy of "despair", Sartre argues it may actually be a philosophy of action, possibility, and optimism.
Sartre negates the idea of "human nature" while acknowledging a universal set of "human conditions" wherein we are "condemned to be free" to create our own moral universe. We are thrown into existence and forced to make meaning from the absurd world we occupy. We cannot defer to anybody else for meaning nor can we reject the immense responsibility that comes with our existence as agentic beings. "So choose!"
While existentialism's heyday was in the mid-20th century, it has much to offer in contrast to determinism, materialism, and rationalism which seem to do violence to human dignity and human sovereignty. Often characterized as a philosophy of "despair", Sartre argues it may actually be a philosophy of action, possibility, and optimism.