Existentialism

Dr. Irei ENGL 2010 sample outline of Sartre's essay “Existentialism is a Humanism” Outline Thesis: “Existentialism is a humanism” because it is based on the premise that the individual becomes “human” only through his/her pursuit of freedom in which he/she is responsible for acting for himself/herself and others. I. Introduction A. Reproaches against existentialism 1. 2. Existentialism leads “people to dwell in a quietism of despair. (345) Existentialists emphasize “all that is ignominious in the human situation, for depicting what is mean, sordid, or base to the neglect of certain things that possess charm and beauty and belong to the brighter side of human nature” (346). 3. 4. Existentialism ignores “the solidarity of mankind” and instead “consider[s] man in isolation” (346). Existentialism—in “ignor[ing]” God and any “eternal” values--“denies the reality and seriousness of human affairs” (346). B. Definition of existentialism: 1. a doctrine that makes “human life possible” 2. “a doctrine that affirms that every truth and every action imply both an environment and a human subjectivity” C. Existentialism is “optimistic” because “it confronts man with a possibility of choice” (347). II. Sartre’s counter-arguments via explanation of existentialism: A. Two kinds of existentialists (347) 1. 2. Christian: ultimately, God is responsible for everything, not the human Atheist: since there is no God, the human is ultimately responsible, since the “human reality” would be the only “reality” B. If “existence comes before essence,” (348) then the human is responsible for himself/herself and everyone else and this leads to the following: Irei 1

1. Anguish: choosing to act for oneself and everyone else is a heavy burden 2. Abandonment: since God is “absent,” “we ourselves decide our being” (357) 3. Despair: “we limit ourselves to a reliance upon that which is within... the sum of the probabilities which render our action feasible” a. No room for quietism: Just because we have...