Sartre’s Existentialism
The fundamental point of Sartre’s (1946) lecture entitled “Existentialism is a Humanism” is that according to the French philosopher there is no God and this is what makes existence the precursor to essence. Man is born and lives and defines himself along the way or at the end in looking back at who he was and what he accomplished. Because there is no God, there is no set of rules of guide or goal driving or compelling man in the universe. Man has to determine his own course of action while simultaneously realizing that he is responsible for his action and also for guiding the fate of humanity. By “fashioning myself,” as Sartre (1946) puts it, “I fashion Man.” Sartre argues in his lecture that Christians opposed his philosophy of existentialism because it was immoral and thus pessimistic, but Sartre contended that it was neither. This paper will determine the extent to which one may view “Existentialism is a Humanism” as a pessimistic work.

Sartre (1946) stated the main problem in the beginning of the lecture that he wished to address: “From the Christian side, we are reproached as people who deny the reality and seriousness of human affairs. For since we ignore the commandments of God and all values prescribed as eternal, nothing remains but what is strictly voluntary. Everyone can do what he likes, and will be incapable, from such a point of view, of condemning either the point of view or the action of anyone else.” The argument, Sartre acknowledged, was that by denying the existence of God, man was denying the precepts and laws of God that should determine man’s actions and that determine man’s identity and essence. If man is made in the image and likeness of God, man’s essence must be at least partly spiritual and related to a spiritual purpose.

Sartre (1946) argued that God was not necessary for leading a moral life, because instead of being judged by God one could be judged by others or held accountable by one’s own self. One has to determine how one will react to the facts of life and therefore base his behavior on the realities of the world, which need not be governed by an all-seeing God. Sartre (1946) contended that in order for man to be moral, he need only accept his responsibility before others and live a life that would be beneficial to himself and to others. This was why he described existentialism as a humanism: he focused on human matters rather than on those related to the divine (Barrett, 1958).

The aim of...…own choice, my conception of man upon mankind?”  The answer was no one, and thus every existentialist is to some extent alienated from others. This was not pessimism, Sartre contended, but rather the reality for existentialists. Moreover, existentialists tend to express a feeling of being abandoned in the universe, as they do not believe in God: “And when we speak of “abandonment” – a favorite word of Heidegger – we only mean to say that God does not exist, and that it is necessary to draw the consequences of his absence right to the end” (Sartre, 1946). This was another cause of anguish—but not a cause for pessimism, as Sartre saw it. Sartre saw it merely as the reality.

In conclusion, “Existentialism is a Humanism” is not a pessimistic work but rather an atheistic work that contains no theological hope, faith or charity. It does not focus on the worst aspects of human nature but rather on a particular view that is anti-supernatural and which holds that God does not exist and that, moreover, as a result of this awareness, man is left to define himself and his meaning singularly without the assistance of any spiritual guide or other human being. Man is, in other words, on his own and is quite naturally going to feel alienated and distant…