What is existential humanism? Discuss what Sartre means by abandonment, anguish, and despair. How does an individual marriage commit humanity to monogamy? What give life purpose, according to Sartre? Do you agree? What makes your life meaningful?

Existential humanism declares that existence came before essence. Sartre believes that a person’s being is made up of the person’s actions and feelings rather than just existing because we are born. It is the idea that man makes himself what he wills to be. The actions that we take today will determine the course of our existence. Sartre says there are two kinds of human existentialists – the Christian/Catholic existentialist and the Atheist existentialist. He considers himself the latter. Christian existentialists believe that God produced or created our existence. Atheist existentialists don’t believe it is God but they do believe there is at least one being who’s existence comes before it’s essence. How else could the world have been created?

Sartre describes anguish as when someone has to make a choice for themselves but they do not want to compare it to what others would do – it is a condition of our actions. Sartre says “When a man commits himself to anything, fully realizing that he is not only choosing what he will be, but is thereby at the same time a legislator deciding for the whole of mankind – in such a moment a man cannot escape from the sense of complete and profound responsibility.” He is saying it is when a person realizes that the decisions they make help to set the standard for the decisions of others in our society. The individual marriage committing the world to monogamy falls into this category because if other people see you getting married and staying faithful to one person, they will believe that is what they should have so they will go ahead and find someone to marry. People lead by example, so if they see someone doing something they didn’t think was okay before then they might see that as something they can do. That is a lot of stress to put on one person’s shoulders, so of course that would cause anguish because we all should want to do the right thing.

Sartre describes abandonment by claiming that God does not exist and some even say that we should throw out the idea of God all together and get back to our norms of honesty, humanity, and progress. Sartre says “Nor, on the other hand, if God does not exist, are we provided with any values or commands that could legitimise our behaviour. Thus we have neither behind us, nor before us in a luminous realm of values, any means of justification or excuse. – We are left alone, without excuse.” This being left alone that he speaks of is what he describes as abandonment.

Sartre describes despair as acting without hope, or understanding that things may not happen the way you think they will. It is to act, not as though you know everything, but as you can take it all in stride. You must count on your comrades but also not expect that they will always be there for you. It is an uncertainty that we must live with but it should make us stronger.

My family makes my life meaningful but also my passion to finish school. I want to be my own individual person and do things for myself rather than doing everything for everyone else. Starting my career and taking a deep breath will also make my life meaningful.

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