Jean-Paul Sartre, L'Existentialisme est un humanisme [Existentialism and Humanism]

Yoann Malinge (Catholic University of Louvain)

Ed. by Hugo Azerad, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.07: French Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1946

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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Existentialism is a Humanism

is the text of a conference given by Jean-Paul Sartre in October 1945. He had already published several philosophical works, including

Being and Nothingness

, several plays, and the first two volumes of

The Roads to Freedom

. He was already a famous writer, whose work has been widely read and criticized. Through this conference, Sartre intended to make his philosophy more accessible and to respond to several criticisms addressed to him.

Definition of existentialism

Definition of existentialism

Sartre’s conference begins by defining existentialism through its effects: it is a “doctrine which makes human life possible and also affirms that every truth and every action imply an environment and a human subjectivity” (p. 18). This optimistic definition makes it

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3418 words

Citation: Malinge, Yoann. "L'Existentialisme est un humanisme". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 April 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11104, accessed 14 June 2025.]

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