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What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world-and defines himself afterward.

1946 L'Existentialisme est un humanisme (Existentialism and Humanism,1948) (translated by Philip Mairet).
What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world-and defines himself afterward.