"Letter on Humanism" (german: Über den Humanismus) refers to a famous letter written by

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th ce ...

in December 1946 in response to a series of questions by

Jean Beaufret Jean Beaufret (; 22 May 1907, in Auzances7 August 1982, in Paris) was a French philosopher and Germanist tremendously influential in the reception of Martin Heidegger's work in France. Life After graduating from the École Normale Supérieure ...

(10 November 1946) about the development of French existentialism. Heidegger reworked the letter for publication in 1947. He distanced himself from

Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lite ...

's position and

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

in general in this letter.

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Heidegger responds to Sartre's famous address, ''

Existentialism is a Humanism ''Existentialism Is a Humanism'' (french: L'existentialisme est un humanisme) is a 1946 work by the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, based on a lecture by the same name he gave at Club Maintenant in Paris, on 29 October 1945. In early translations, ...

,'' which employs modes of being in an attempt to ground his concept of freedom

ontologically In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...

by distinguishing between being-in-itself and being-for-itself. Sartre's existentialism is criticized in the letter:

Existentialism says
existence precedes essence The proposition that existence precedes essence (french: l'existence précède l'essence) is a central claim of existentialism, which reverses the traditional philosophical view that the essence (the nature) of a thing is more fundamental and im ...
. In this statement he is taking ''existentia'' and '' essentia'' according to their metaphysical meaning, which, from Plato's time on, has said that ''essentia'' precedes ''existentia''. Sartre reverses this statement. But the reversal of a metaphysical statement remains a metaphysical statement. With it, he stays with metaphysics, in oblivion of the truth of Being.

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English Text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letter on Humanism Works by Martin Heidegger 1947 documents 1947 in philosophy Humanism Works about existentialism Works about nihilism Works about Jean-Paul Sartre

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