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Notes through life choices. However, even though the concrete individual existence must have priority in
existentialism, certain conditions are commonly held to be “endemic” to human existence.
What these conditions are is better understood in light of the meaning of the word “existence,”
which comes from the Latin “existere,” meaning “to stand out.” Humans exist in a state of distance
from the world that they nonetheless remain in the midst of. This distance is what enables humans
to project meaning into the disinterested world of in-itselfs. This projected meaning remains fragile,
constantly facing breakdown for any reason—from a tragedy to a particularly insightful moment.
In such a breakdown, humans are put face to face with the naked meaninglessness of the world,
and the results can be devastating.

In respect to the devastating awareness of meaninglessness, Albert Camus claimed
that “there is only one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide” in his The
Myth of Sisyphus.
Existence Precedes Essence

A central proposition of existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that the
actual life of the individual is what constitutes what could be called his or her “essence” instead of
there being a predetermined essence that defines what it is to be a human. Thus, the human being—
through their own consciousness—creates their own values and determines a meaning to their life.
Although it was Sartre who explicitly coined the phrase, similar notions can be found in the thought
of many existentialist philosophers, from Mulla Sadra, to Kierkegaard, to Heidegger.
It is often claimed in this context that a person defines him or herself, which is often perceived as
stating that they can “wish” to be something—anything, a bird, for instance—and then be it.
According to most existentialist philosophers, however, this would constitute an inauthentic
existence. Instead, the phrase should be taken to say that the person is (1) defined only insofar as he
or she acts and (2) that he or she is responsible for his or her actions. For example, someone who acts
cruelly towards other people is, by that act, defined as a cruel person. Furthermore, by this action of
cruelty such persons are themselves responsible for their new identity (a cruel person). This is as
opposed to their genes, or ‘human nature’, bearing the blame.
As Sartre puts it in his Existentialism is Humanism: “man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges
up in the world—and defines himself afterwards.” Of course, the more positive, therapeutic aspect
of this is also implied: A person can choose to act in a different way, and to be a good person instead
of a cruel person. Here it is also clear that since humans can choose to be either cruel or good, they
are, in fact, neither of these things essentially.

3.3.5 Themes in Existentialism

Some themes are found throughout the existentialism as mentioned below:
(1) Freedom: The existentialist concept of freedom is often misunderstood as a sort of liberum
arbitrium where almost anything is possible and where values are inconsequential to choice
and action. This interpretation of the concept is often related to the insistence on the absurdity
of the world and the assumption that there exist no relevant or absolutely good or bad values.
However, that there are no values to be found in the world in-itself does not mean that there
are no values: We are usually brought up with certain values, and even though we cannot
justify them ultimately, they will be “our” values.

Example: In Kierkegaard’s Judge Vilhelm’s account in Either/Or, making choices without
allowing one’s values to confer differing values to the alternatives, is, in fact, choosing not to

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