Existentialism is a Humanism

In “Existentialism is a Humanism,” Sartre writes: “Man is nothing other than his own project. He exists only to the extent that he realizes himself, therefore he is nothing more than the sum of his actions, nothing more than his life” (37). Is Sartre contradicting himself, or can this statement be reconciled with the central tenet of existentialism: that man’s existence precedes his essence? Support your answer with quotations from the text.

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.