The Myth of Sisyphus

Existentialism

• Central Tenet: Existence precedes essence

• There is no universal objective conception of humanity that precedes the historic existence we encounter in our experience

Subjectivism

• Objects: essence precedes existence• Subjects: existence precedes essence• This implies ultimate responsibility for

subjects

SubjectivismTwo Senses

1. The individual is free

2. Subjectivity is human subjectivity and the individual cannot get beyond that

Subjectivity = Human Subjectivity

• In choosing x I am choosing for all of humanity• Choice=Value• If I choose x, I choose this world to be one in which there is an x,

which means I choose an Xworld, given I have the power to make the world an Xworld and given you live in the world, I am choosing for you to live in an Xworld

Man is Condemned to be Free

• Freedom is a kind of burden; a heavy responsibility• Abandonment; anguish; acting without hope• I am the sum of my actions, my willings, my choices

Is Man Condemned to be Alone?

• Only one certain truth: Cartesian cogito• Dignity: This is what distinguishes man from

the stone

• No universal essence that is human nature but something universally human: the human condition

Existentialism is a Humanism

1. The belief that Man is the end-in-itself and the supreme value

2. Existential Humanism: the belief in the relation of the transcendence of Man with his subjectivity