By the end of this class, you will:

  1. Be able to explain what existentialists (like Jean Paul Sartre) mean when they claim that “essence precedes existence,” and “we are condemned to be free”
  2. Be able to compare a theist or an Aristotelian’s answer to the question “Is there meaning in life?” to the existentialist’s
  3. Be able to articulate one practical decision in life you might make differently if you were (or were not) an existentialist

Before the Plenary

Read This

Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism”

Watch This

After the Plenary

Prepare to discuss the following question with your peer group at your next Discussion Group:

  • Does Sartre’s example of a “paper knife” remind you of Aristotle?
  • Contrast what Sartre actually says about this example with what Aristotle would say about it.