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When Sartre begins to explain his statement “existence precedes essence”, he starts by giving an example of an inanimate object. He describes a paper-cutter for example. He explains that the manufacturer has an idea to create a paper-cutter. He knows full well what purpose the cutter will serve. He creates the paper-cutter. And after its creation it serves only one purpose. Its essence therefore is decided before it is created. To understand what Sartre means when he applies this concept to humans you have to understand one important fact. Sartre and his colleagues are atheists. They do not believe in God, or that God created mankind. Moreover they do not believe that there is some divine plan, or that everything happens for a reason. Sartre does not believe in human nature, the will of god, or human essence prior to existence. He defines this as follows: “first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself”. He says that man is nothing else than what he makes himself. What this means is that every man is fully responsible for his actions and the decisions that he makes. He believes that the idea that human nature is responsible, or that things that occur our God’s will, are just excuses that mankind have created to escape the reality that they have created their life situations. Religion therefore is simply a scapegoat, to avoid responsibility for one’s actions.
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