How do I teach existentialism in high school?
How do I teach existentialism in high school?
Start with a question seniors already ask themselves, whether their choices are really theirs, then bring in Sartre's claim that existence comes before essence. Work from short excerpts, everyday scenarios and student writing rather than long lectures. This page covers the usual misreadings, classroom moves, a five-lesson path from Sartre to Camus and de Beauvoir, and ready-made units.
View the philosophy unitsTeach existentialism as an answer to a question seniors care about: who decides who I become? Open with Sartre's idea that existence precedes essence, contrasting a made object with a person. Then work through freedom, responsibility, anguish and bad faith using short excerpts and everyday scenarios. Add Camus on the absurd and de Beauvoir on becoming who we are within a situation, and finish with a personal argumentative essay.
Ready-made material
High School Philosophy Course Bundle, Grades 11–12
8 resources in one download: $89.99 instead of $199.92 bought separately.
The first cover is the main resource; the others are related options. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
High School Philosophy Course Bundle | Existentialism, Habermas, Ethics & Theory of Knowledge | 8 Units | Grades 11–12
High School Psychology and Sociology Course Bundle | Moral Development, Socialization & Aggression | 8 Units | Grades 11–12
Middle School Ethics Curriculum | Justice, Conscience, Freedom, Digital Life & Climate | 10 Units | Grades 6–9
Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
Why it is hard
Where students get existentialism wrong
Existentialism has a reputation that arrives before you do. Some students think it means nothing matters, which they find either thrilling or depressing. Others picture black turtlenecks and gloom. Both readings miss the point that Sartre's freedom is demanding: if there is no fixed human nature, you are responsible for what you make of yourself. The texts add to the difficulty. Sartre's vocabulary, translated from French, is dense, and students can lose a whole lesson decoding one page of Being and Nothingness. Terms like anguish, abandonment and despair sound like emotions, so students read them as moods instead of philosophical positions. Bad faith gets reduced to lying, when the interesting part is lying to yourself about your own freedom. Camus adds another confusion. Students hear 'absurd' and think 'silly', and they blur his position with Sartre's. De Beauvoir is sometimes left out or mentioned only as Sartre's partner, which drops one of the most discussed ideas of the movement. Finally, the unit touches on meaning and despair, so stay alert to students for whom these questions are personal rather than academic.
What works
Approaches that work with seniors
Keep the texts short and the questions personal, then hold students to precise definitions.
- Contrast a paper knife, made for a purpose, with a person who has no preset purpose.
- Give scenarios of bad faith, such as 'I had no choice, my parents made me,' to analyze.
- Assign one page of primary text per lesson with a guiding question in the margin.
- Have students rewrite a key passage in plain language, then compare versions with a partner.
- Stage a debate between Sartre and Camus on whether life needs a meaning we create.
- Bring in the free will debate from neuroscience and ask whether it threatens Sartre's idea of freedom.
Step by step
A five-lesson path through existentialism
This sequence assumes periods of about 50 minutes and a class with some practice reading philosophy. Add a day of text work if needed.
- Existence before essenceStart with the made object versus the person. Students list what might define them, such as genes, family or culture, and decide which of these Sartre would accept as fixed and which he would reject.
- Anguish, abandonment, despairRead a short excerpt and define each term as a philosophical claim, not a mood. Students apply each one to a real choice they face, such as which colleges to apply to.
- Bad faith in daily lifeAnalyze Sartre's waiter example alongside two modern scenarios. Students explain how each person denies their own freedom, then write one example of bad faith from their own experience.
- Camus and de BeauvoirIntroduce Sisyphus and the absurd, then de Beauvoir on becoming who we are within a social situation. Groups compare the three thinkers on freedom, limits and how to live.
- Is freedom real?Discuss the neuroscience challenge to free will. Students write an argumentative essay on whether Sartre's view of freedom survives it, quoting at least one text from the unit.
Ready-made option
Existentialism units ready to teach
Half of the High School Philosophy Course Bundle is existentialism: Anguish, Abandonment and Despair in Sartre; Sartre and the Priority of Existence; Sartre, de Beauvoir and Camus; and Sartre and Neuroscience. Those four map closely onto the sequence above. The bundle costs $89.99 for all eight units, while the parts bought separately total $199.92, and the remaining four cover Habermas, discourse ethics, Kant, utilitarianism and theory of knowledge. It is written for Grades 11–12 philosophy and humanities classes. If you teach existentialism inside a psychology elective, the High School Psychology and Sociology Course Bundle ($89.99) offers Mead's social self as a contrast.
Honest limits
What the units leave open
Decide which full texts, if any, students read beyond the unit material, and in which translation, then check what your library or anthology has. The units also cannot judge how heavy the topic feels for a particular class; you set the tone and watch for students who take questions of meaning personally. Compare the content with your course outline or program requirements, because the store makes no alignment claim. Department use needs a message to Teach Lessons first. Within 7 days, a purchase that does not suit you can be exchanged for store credit of equal value, not cash.
Good to know
More teacher questions
Is existentialism too dark for high school students?
Taught well, it tends to do the opposite. Sartre insists that people make themselves through their choices, and Camus argues for living fully despite the absurd. Frame the unit around freedom and responsibility rather than despair. Still, know your students, and have a counselor contact ready if a discussion about meaning turns personal for someone.
Which texts should I assign?
Short pieces work best. Sartre's lecture Existentialism Is a Humanism is the usual entry point because it was given for a general audience. Pair it with a passage from Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus and a short excerpt from de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity or The Second Sex. Save Being and Nothingness for brief, guided extracts.
How is Camus different from Sartre?
Camus starts from the absurd, the clash between our search for meaning and a world that offers none, and answers it with revolt and without false hope. Sartre puts freedom and responsibility at the center and treats meaning as something we create. Camus also rejected the existentialist label, which makes a useful discussion point.
Will these units fit an IB or state-approved course?
Do not assume they do. The store makes no claim of alignment with IB, any state's standards or any other program. If you teach a course with a set syllabus, compare the unit topics with it yourself and check with your coordinator. For most U.S. electives, the course description your school approved is the document to check against.
How do I assess an existentialism unit?
An argumentative essay works well: students take a position on a question such as whether we are fully responsible for who we become, and defend it with a text. Add a short concept check on existence and essence, bad faith and the absurd, so you can see that definitions are secure before the essay.
Can I teach existentialism without a philosophy degree?
Yes, if you prepare the core ideas carefully and stay close to short texts. Read Sartre's lecture yourself first, settle on clear definitions for five or six terms, and use them consistently. Students do not need you to be an expert; they need precise terms and good questions.
Start with the question they already ask
Seniors are deciding who they will become. Put Sartre's claim in front of them and let them argue with it.
View the philosophy units