What does "existence precedes essence" mean?
A knife is designed with a purpose in mind before it's made. Sartre argued people work the other way around: we're thrown into existence first, and only then define who we are through our choices. We are "condemned to be free," and that freedom brings unavoidable responsibility and anxiety. Blaming God, nature, or circumstance is what Sartre called bad faith.
What are the absurd and existential therapy?
Camus described the absurd as the clash between our hunger for meaning and a silent universe. His answer was Sisyphus: keep pushing the boulder, in open revolt, without a guarantee of meaning. In psychology, Irvin Yalom, Viktor Frankl, and Rollo May built existential therapy around death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. It sits alongside person-centered therapy in the humanistic tradition.
FAQ
- Is existentialism just nihilism?
- No. It starts from the absence of given meaning but insists we create meaning ourselves.
- What does existential therapy focus on?
- Yalom's four "ultimate concerns": death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-25
References
- Sartre, J.-P. (1946/2007). Existentialism Is a Humanism. Yale University Press.
- Kierkegaard, S. (1843). Fear and Trembling.
- Camus, A. (1942). Le Mythe de Sisyphe. Gallimard.