This week we will be reading and discussing a segment in the chapter “Existentialism is a Humanism” from Kaufmann’s “Existentialism; from Dostoevsky to Sartre.” Sartre argues that Existentialism is a form of Humanism because it posits nothing but a human in the world from which they are made something by reflecting on this original position. Individuals must encounter themselves and arise from this, by which they can then form the appropriate social structures, not the other way around, Sartre argues. For this reason, the technique of production, a scientific form of essence preceding existence, is wrong (perhaps an unintended defence of radicalism), though he still argues that social classes are fundamentally mistaken concepts, and that the individual makes themselves first and foremost (and ought to). In explaining this Sartre borrows many examples from Christianity, and the concept of God in his understanding of essentialism. We will be reading the first four pages of the chapter (from the PDF version linked), and will discuss, as well as (hopefully) criticise the text.

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/complexity/people/students/dtc/students2011/maitland/philosophy/sartre-eih.pdf