Existencialismo

Julio Cesar Aranguren
Existentialism
John McGuire
Sartre’s Principle of Existentialism:
Is it True, What are its Implications, and Who Does it Apply to?

Belonging to the group of the atheistic philosophers—specifically existentialist philosophers—Jean Paul Sartre regarded his kind to have one specific thing in common. The one thing he felt that distinguished the group of philosophers who,like him, were atheist existentialists as opposed to Christian existentialists was the belief that “existence comes before essence” (Sartre 27). In his work Existentialism is a Humanism, this statement is expanded by, among other things, comparing men to manufactured objects as well as to nature, and comes with numerous implications of the “self” in life and in its actions. Those who believe inGod or a greater being, however, may feel that this belief is erroneous and maintain quite the opposite notion that essence comes before existence. Others may agree with Sartre’s premise, but nonetheless, disagree with the implications it includes regarding the self. I aim to argue how, from an atheist point of view, Sartre’s statement holds complete truth in itself and the theory of life thatfollows this statement has enough allegations to support it. While I may see how Sartre’s arguments are entirely invalid if one is Christian or believes in God, I see no way in which they might not be true for those who don’t believe in God and have an atheistic view of life (existence). Furthermore, the dilemma of essence and existence will not be comparable to, for instance, that one that pondersover the order of an egg and a chicken, for my argument will border on objectivity once each side is supported by either the existence or the absence of God. What I mean by this is that while the egg will always come from the chicken as the chicken comes from the egg, maintaining a vicious circle, essence doesn’t come from existence at the same rate existence comes from essence when fixed with eitherChristian existentialism or atheistic existentialism, and this shall be clear in the end.
The belief that “existence comes before essence” is, I suspect, probably one any atheist bears in mind, even if they have never though of it in those specific terms. Since atheist existentialists such as Sartre believe man has no creator, they believe that when a man enters the world, nothing defined whatthat man would be beforehand, and no one had the idea of that particular man existing before he indeed began to exist. Rather, a man simply exists, and upon his existence, he then creates his own essence, making himself. This statement is specific of human beings, and no other matter on Earth could have its existence precede its essence. For instance, when a man decides to make a mirror, there isno question that he knows the purpose of this making prior to the final product. A man’s desire is to make a mirror in order to look at himself or to let another human being look at their reflection. If it is true that a man has figured this out before he starts to make the mirror, then the essence of the mirror, which Sartre defines as the “sum of the formulae and the qualities which made itsproduction and its definition possible,” (Sartre 28) is established before it actually prevails; that is, before its existence. A man knows a mirror needs to be reflective, and can be made from a surface coated with a metallic paint, which makes the reflection possible—these are “the qualities.” Thus, a man needs to collect a metallic coat and a chosen material for the surface of his mirror giving ita mental definition and, consequently, begin its production in order to make it functional—this is “the formulae.” A similar set of events occurs in the making of any other manufactured object, all ending with a final product—the existence. Therefore, all manufactured objects consist on the statement that essence comes before existence, opposing that of all humans (from an atheist perspective)....