Imagine you wake up with no instruction manual—no prewritten purpose, no official role, no hidden “true self” waiting to be discovered. For Jean-Paul Sartre, that’s not a nightmare; it’s the starting point of being human.
THE SLOGAN THAT STARTS A FIGHT
Sartre’s signature claim—“existence precedes essence”—means that you show up in the world first, and only later define what you are. A paperknife is made with a purpose in mind (its “essence”) before it exists; humans, Sartre argues, are not like tools. We are not born with an assigned nature, fixed destiny, or built-in meaning that tells us what we must be.
This is existentialism’s audacious reversal: instead of discovering a preinstalled identity, you create one through your choices. Your life is less like unwrapping a present and more like writing a novel with no outline—except you’re also the main character.
“Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.”
— Jean-Paul Sartre, “Existentialism Is a Humanism”
FREEDOM: THE GIFT WITH TEETH
If there’s no preset essence, then you’re radically free—free not just to pick hobbies, but to shape your values, relationships, and direction. Sartre calls this freedom exhilarating and unsettling: you can’t ultimately outsource the authorship of your life to tradition, biology, or a cosmic script.
That’s why existentialism talks so much about anxiety. It’s the vertigo of realizing that, in key moments, there’s no external authority that can decide for you. Even refusing to choose is a choice—one that still writes a line in your story.
Sartre isn’t saying life is meaningless by default; he’s saying meaning isn’t prepackaged. Your actions don’t reveal a hidden essence—they build one, publicly, over time.
BAD FAITH: HIDING FROM YOUR OWN AUTHORSHIP
Sartre’s sharpest critique is aimed at what he calls bad faith: the habit of pretending you’re not free. It’s the inner voice that says, “I can’t help it—I’m just this kind of person,” as if your current role were a permanent identity rather than a pattern you keep choosing.
Bad faith can look like treating your job title as your destiny, your upbringing as your alibi, or your personality test as your prison. Sartre doesn’t deny pressures and constraints; he challenges the move where we turn them into total excuses and stop owning our part.
- My purpose is given; I must find it.
- My roles define me (job, status, labels).
- Freedom is mainly choosing within a fixed identity.
- I exist, then I define myself through action.
- Roles are performances I can revise or reject.
- Freedom is responsibility for what I become.
“We are our choices.”
— Adapted from Sartrean themes
When you catch yourself saying “That’s just who I am,” add: “...so far.” Then name one small action that would support a different identity (a phone call, an apology, a boundary, a practice). Existentialism lives in verbs.
- “Existence precedes essence” means humans aren’t born with a fixed purpose; we become through choices.
- Sartrean freedom is radical: you can’t fully hand responsibility to nature, society, or fate.
- Anxiety, for Sartre, is the feeling of freedom—not a defect, but a signal you’re choosing.
- Bad faith is self-deception: treating roles or labels as destiny to avoid responsibility.
- Meaning isn’t discovered like a secret; it’s constructed through what you do next.