Existence precedes essence

The proposition that existence precedes essence is a central claim of existentialism, which reverses the traditional philosophical view that the essence or nature of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence.

The idea can be found in the works of Averroes in the 12th centurycitation|first=Jones|last=Irwin|title=Averroes' Reason: A Medieval Tale of Christianity and Islam|date=Autumn 2002|journal=The Philosopher|volume=LXXXX|issue=2] and Mulla Sadra in the 17th century, [Harv|Razavi|1997|p=130] and was later more explicitly formulated by Jean-Paul Sartre in the 20th century. Simone de Beauvoir also uses this concept in her feminist existentialism to develop the idea that "one is not born a woman, but becomes one". In Islamic philosophy whereas previous methods of philosophical thought held that "essence precedes existence", a concept which dates back to Avicenna and Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, [Harv|Razavi|1997|p=129] Mulla Sadra substituted a metaphysics of existence for the traditional meta physics of essences, and giving priority ab initio to existence over quiddity. [Corbin (1993), pp. 342 and 343]

In western philosophy Sartre flips this around arguing that for humans, existence precedes essence. The three-word formula originates with the French philosopher Sartre, in the 1945 lecture "Existentialism Is a Humanism" [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy] (though antecedent notions can be found in Heidegger's Being and Time). [Sartre, in "Being and Nothingness" (1943), credits a slightly longer version of the claim to Heidegger: "Now freedom has no essence. It is not subject to any logical necessity; we must say of it what Heidegger said of the "Dasein" in general: 'In it existence precedes and commands essence.'" However, Sartre gives no page reference for this citation. In "Being and Time", Heidegger writes: "The 'essence' of human-being lies in its existence." ("Das 'Wesen' des Daseins liegt in seiner Existenz", "Sein und Zeit", p. 42.)]

Mulla Sadra's philosophy of existence

Sadr al-Din Muhammad Shirazi, commonly known as Mulla Sadra (979 - 1050 AH; 1571/1572 - 1640/1641 AD) claimed that there are no immutable essences, but that each essence is determined and variable according to the degree of intensity of its act of existence. [Corbin (1993), pp. 342 and 343]

Sayyid Jalal Ashtiyani later summarizes Mulla Sadra's concept as follows: [Harv|Razavi|1997|pp=129-30]

In his view reality is existence, differentiated in a variety of ways, and these different ways look to us like essences. What first affect us are things that exist and we forms ideas of essences afterwards, so existence precedes essence. This position referred to as primacy of existence (Arabic: "Isalat al-Wujud"). [Leaman (2007), p.35]

artre's view

The Sartrean claim is best understood in contrast to an established principle of metaphysics that essence "precedes" existence, i.e. that there is such a thing as human nature, determined by the cosmic order (or a god), laid down by religious tradition, or legislated by political or social authority. A typical claim for this traditional thesis would be that man is essentially selfish, or that he is a rational being.

When it is said that man defines himself, it is often perceived as stating that man can "wish" to be something - anything, a bird, for instance - and then be it. According to Sartre's account, however, this would be a kind of bad faith. What is meant by the statement is that man is (1) defined only insofar as he acts and (2) that he is responsible for his actions. To clarify, it can be said that a man who acts cruelly towards other people is, by that act, defined as a cruel man and in that same instance, he (as opposed to his genes, for instance) is defined as being responsible for being this cruel man. Of course, the more positive therapeutic aspect of this is also implied: You 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 man can choose to be either cruel or good, he is, in fact, neither of these things "essentially". [Catalano p. 81]

To claim that existence precedes essence is to assert that there is no such predetermined essence to be found in man, and that an individual's essence is defined by him or her through how he or she creates and lives his or her life. As Sartre puts it in his Existentialism is a Humanism: "man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world – and defines himself afterwards." [Sartre, "Existentialism is a humanism"]

Existentialism tends to focus on the question of human existence and the conditions of this existence. What is meant by existence is the concrete life of each individual, and his concrete ways of being in the world. Even though this concrete individual existence must be the primary source of information in the study of man, certain conditions are commonly held to be "endemic" to human existence. These conditions are usually in some way related to the inherent meaninglessness or absurdity of the earth and its apparent contrast with our pre-reflexive lived lives which normally present themselves to us as meaningful. A central theme is that since the world "in-itself" is absurd, that is, not "fair," then a meaningful life can at any point suddenly lose all its meaning. The reasons why this happen are many, ranging from a tragedy that "tears a person's world apart," to the results of an honest inquiry into one's own existence. Such an encounter can make a person mentally unstable, and avoiding such instability by making people aware of their condition and ready to handle it is one of the central themes of existentialism. Albert Camus, for instance, famously claimed that "there is only one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide." [Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus"]

Aside from these "psychological" issues, it is also claimed that these encounters with the absurd are where we are most in touch with our condition as humans. Such an encounter cannot be without philosophical significance, and existentialist philosophers derive many metaphysical theories from these encounters. These are often related to the self, consciousness and freedom as well as the nature of meaning.

ee also

*Existentialism
*Jean-Paul Sartre
*Simone de Beauvoir

References

* Albert Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus", 1948.
*cite book|last=Corbin|first=Henry|authorlink=Henry Corbin|coauthors=|title=History of Islamic Philosophy, Translated by Liadain Sherrard, Philip Sherrard|publisher=London; Kegan Paul International in association with Islamic Publications for The Institute of Ismaili Studies |year=1993 (original French 1964)|isbn=0710304161
* Joseph S. Catalano, "A Commentary on Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness", University of Chicago Press 1985.
*cite book|last=Leaman|first=Oliver|authorlink=Oliver Leaman|coauthors=Peter S. Groff |title=Islamic Philosophy A-Z|publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2007|isbn=0748620893
* Sartre, "Existentialism is a Humanism" (L'existentialisme est un humanisme) 1946 Lecture
* Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, article [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/#2 Existentialism]
*Harvard reference|title=Suhrawardi and the School of Illumination|first=Mehdi Amin|last=Razavi|year=1997|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0700704124

Notes