Existentialism is a Humanism

In the following quotation, what do you think Sartre means by saying that “man passes beyond himself”? Refer to specific passages from “Existentialism is a Humanism” to support your answer. Feel free to incorporate quotations from Sartre’s other works to support your position:

“This link between transcendence as constitutive of man (not in the sense that God is transcendent, but in the sense that man passes beyond himself) and subjectivity (in the sense that man is not an island unto himself but always present in a human universe) is what we call ‘existentialist humanism.’ This is humanism because we remind man that there is no legislator other than himself and that he must, in his abandoned state, make his own choices, and also because we show that it is not by turning inward, but by constantly seeking a goal outside of himself in the form of liberation, or of some special achievement, that man will realize himself as truly human.” (“Existentialism is a Humanism,” Pages 52-53)

Consider Sartre’s example of the young man deciding whether to go to war or stay home with his mother (“Existentialism is a Humanism,” Pages 30-34). What is the significance of this example, according to Sartre? In the Post-Lecture Discussion, why does Naville say that in Sartre’s place he “would have inquired about [the young man’s] capabilities, his age, and his financial resources. I would have examined his relationship with his mother” (72)? What is the core disagreement between Naville and Sartre on this issue? Who do you think is right, and why?

Sartre declares that “those who easily stomach a Zola novel like The Earth are sickened when they open an existentialist novel” (19). Unpack this statement.

First, what does the audience Sartre refers to find objectionable in existentialist novels? Why do they “easily stomach” Zola’s work? Use quotations from Zola and from an existentialist novel by Sartre or another author to support your claims.

Second, what philosophical disagreement underlies the conflict between Sartre, on the one hand, and the approving readers of Zola, on the other? Why does Sartre think his opponents are more pessimistic than he? 

Compare and contrast Sartre’s version of Kant’s categorical imperative (“Existentialism is a Humanism,” 25) with Kant’s own presentation in the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. How, if at all, does Sartre’s version differ?

Consider Pierre Naville’s criticism of Sartre’s concept of the human condition. Do you think Naville is right about this concept being a thinly-disguised version of human nature? Support your answer with quotations from “Existentialism is a Humanism.”

Why do you think Naville considers Sartre’s thought dangerously reactionary? Support your answer with quotations from both the “Post-Lecture Discussion” and “Existentialism is a Humanism.”

Why does Sartre say in “A Commentary on The Stranger” that “the words ‘to love’ are the most meaningless of all” (83)? According to Sartre, what does love consist of? Support your answer with quotations from “A Commentary on The Stranger” and “Existentialism is a Humanism.”

Sartre analyzes what he calls Camus’s “silence” in The Stranger. Choose several passages from The Stranger that illustrate the techniques Sartre discusses. Explain which method(s) each passage exemplifies, how it counts as a “silence,” and its overall function within the context of the novel.