Most ethical theories tell you what the right rule or outcome is. Existentialism takes a different approach. It says there’s no built-in rulebook for life at all. Each person must create their own values through the choices they actually make.
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Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude · Ethics0027
Sartre’s Core Ideas
“Existence precedes essence” — no fixed nature at birth
“Condemned to be free” — freedom as heavy responsibility
No fate, God, or human nature to blame for choices
Bad Faith & Authenticity
Bad faith: pretending “I had to do it,” to dodge freedom
Authenticity: acting on your own examined values
A choice implicitly says anyone in your place should choose it too
Camus & the Absurd
The absurd: our wish for meaning vs. a silent universe
“The Myth of Sisyphus” — purpose found in the act, not the outcome
Live fully and with integrity, with no cosmic justification needed
Legacy & Application
Rose especially after WWII, as old certainties felt shaken
Criticised for offering little guidance in real dilemmas
An order doesn’t remove an official’s own personal responsibility
Must Know
- Existentialism is a philosophy that focuses on individual freedom, choice, and personal responsibility. It holds that life has no built-in purpose or meaning handed down from outside. Each person must create their own meaning through what they choose to do.
- Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, is the thinker most associated with existentialist ethics. His famous phrase “existence precedes essence” means a person is not born with a fixed nature or purpose. We exist first, and only later define who we are, through our choices.
- Because there’s no built-in rulebook, Sartre argued that humans are “condemned to be free.” Free will isn’t a comfortable gift — it’s a heavy responsibility. We can’t blame fate, God, or human nature for our choices. We alone are responsible for them.
- Albert Camus, a French-Algerian writer and philosopher, explored the “absurd” — the tension between our human desire for meaning and a universe that offers none on its own. He argued we should still choose to live fully and act with integrity. No final cosmic justification is needed for that.
Good to Know
- Sartre used the term “bad faith” for a common habit: pretending you have no real choice. You tell yourself “I had to do it” or “that’s just how things are” — to avoid facing the discomfort of your own freedom and responsibility.
- Existentialist ethics has no fixed list of moral rules. But it does insist on authenticity — acting in line with your own honestly examined values, rather than simply following the crowd or hiding behind excuses.
- Sartre also argued that when you choose an action, you are, in effect, saying that anyone in your situation should choose the same. This gives existentialist ethics a shared sense of responsibility, even though it starts from radical individual freedom.
- Camus’s famous essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” uses a Greek myth as its symbol. Sisyphus is condemned to forever push a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down — a symbol for a meaningless-seeming life. Camus concludes that we must imagine Sisyphus finding purpose in the act of pushing itself, not in ever finally succeeding.
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Great to Know
- Existentialism grew especially influential after the horrors of the Second World War, when older assumptions about automatic moral or historical progress felt shaken. It offered a way to still act with purpose and responsibility in a world that no longer seemed to guarantee any built-in meaning.
- A common criticism of existentialist ethics: by rejecting fixed moral rules, it can offer little firm guidance for a real, difficult decision. Critics ask how “be authentic” helps someone choose between two conflicting duties.
- Existentialist ideas about individual responsibility connect to civil-service ethics in a real way. A rule or a superior’s order does not remove a person’s own responsibility for a decision. Even inside a large institution, this tradition would say, an individual official remains responsible for the choices they personally make.
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