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Full Idea
'Existence precedes essence' means there is no pre-given 'essence' that determines who and what we are. We are self-making beings.
Gist of Idea
Our 'existence' is how we create ourselves, unconstrained by any prior 'essence'
Source
Kevin Aho (Existentialism: an introduction [2014], Pref 'What?)
Book Ref
Aho,Kevin: 'Existentialism: an introduction' [Polity 2014], p.-8
A Reaction
This not a yes/no dilemma. Personally I believe (with Aristotle, and Steven Pinker) that there is a fairly comprehensive 'human nature' which we all share, and is the basis of ethics. On top of that, though, a fair bit of 'self-making' can go on.
| 20734 | Anxiety, nausea, guilt and absurdity shake us up, revealing our freedom and limits [Aho] |
| 20733 | Our 'existence' is how we create ourselves, unconstrained by any prior 'essence' [Aho] |
| 20736 | Science has to abstract out the subjective attributes of things, focusing on what is objective [Aho] |
| 20738 | Social contracts and markets have made society seem disconnected and artificial [Aho] |
| 20737 | Protestantism brought the modern emphasis on inner states of the soul [Aho] |
| 20744 | Phenomenologists say all experience is about something and is directed [Aho] |
| 20753 | The self is constituted by its choices made within a social context [Aho] |
| 20766 | Four Noble Truths: life is suffering, caused by attachment, it is avoidable, there is a path [Aho] |