“Orgasm Precedes Essence” The title, “Orgasm Precedes Essence,” is an inspired one taken from the film, Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013). In the film, Emma tries to explain “Existence Precedes Essence,” a Sartrean existential concept, to Adèle. Later, Adèle, after making love to Emma, humourously says: “Orgasm Precedes Essence.” Does the title have anything to with this writing? Probably not. But it sounds as significant as the other one: “Existence Precedes Essence.” In this writing, “Existence” precedes “Orgasm,” and, for sure, in another one “Orgasm” will precede everything. If Existentialism, as a system of belief, makes human life possible See Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism 18, then “Existence Precedes Essence” is the concept that makes Sartrean Existentialism possible. Because to consider oneself as an existential being, firstly, one has to exist as one. “Existence Precedes Essence” is that part of the Sartrean Existential doctrine which makes an individual conscious of their (sing.) existence as well as free from predetermined aspects of life. Existence Precedes Essence Human existence is not the only existence in this world. Jean-Paul Sartre claims that there are three kinds of existence (human beings, artefacts, and naturally occurring objects) See Priest, Jean-Paul Sartre: Basic Writings 25. But human existence is the only existential consciousness (i.e., a unique awareness of self and world) See Busch “Self-making and alienation: from bad faith to revolution,” Jean-Paul Sartre: Key Concepts 165. To demonstrate the existence of a conscious and non-conscious entity, Sartre brings his seminal analogy between the existence of a paper-knife and a human being See Kamruzzamann, “Existentialism: An endless narrative” 9; Kamruzzamann, “Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House: An Existential Play” 20; Kamruzzamann, “Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus: An Existential Proposition” 18. For instance, the existence of a paper-knife is certain which means the production plans and the purpose behind producing the paper-knife are predetermined: there is nothing unpredictable about a paper-knife or any other manufactured objects See Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism 20-1. Sartre terms paper-knife-like objects as “being-in-itself,” See Sartre, Being and Nothingness lxvi which means that some objects exist but have nothing beyond their predetermined activities. On the other hand, the existence of a human being, according to Sartre, is not predictable: there is nothing predetermined about human existence because, unlike the existence of a paper-knife, of a “being-in-itself,” there is no given purpose to be served by a human being. And Sartre terms existential existence as a “being-for-itself” Ibid., 77. Existence Precedes Essence Clearly, Being-in-itself and Being-for-itself are two different kinds of existence and for both of the categories, Existence, Precedes, and Essence, these three words are common. But the word order makes all the difference. For Being-in-itself, the order is Essence Precedes Existence, on the other hand, the order for Being-for-itself is Existence Precedes Essence. Interesting, there is always something preceding about beings whether the type is a Being-in-itself or a Being-for-itself. For instance, the existence of a paper-knife, a being-in-itself, is preceded by its essence because the notion of a paper-knife and all its servable purposes are predetermined by its creator way before its production. But, in the case of a human being, a being-for-itself, the essence is preceded by their existence as existentialism, as a system of belief, rejects all the metanarratives about the fixed meaning and purpose of human life. Existence Precedes Essence God is dead, what is left is their (sing.) shadow and, according to Friedrich Nietzsche, the shadow must be defeated by human beings See Nietzsche, The Gay Science 109. On the other hand, Sartre proposes that there is no conceivable notion of God anyway See Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism 22. That suggests: there is no shadow as well. In a shadowless world, according to Sartre, essence stands for the meaning of life that is not given but created gradually, consciously, “freely,” and responsibly by the existential beings. The question is: can an existential being produce meaning “freely?” In my opinion, the concept of making meaning freely is an ambiguous proposition that demands a detailed study, for sure, because an existential being does not start producing meaning unless the person becomes a part of a/multiple meaning-producing system/s. And it cannot be said certainly that a meaning-producing system does not make a being conscious of the social, cultural, political, religious, non-religious, and economic limitations and delimitations. It cannot be said, without any doubt, that a meaning produced by an existential being is free of any political influences. Firstly, “Existence Precedes Essence,” suggests that meaning can be produced freely in a shadowless world. On the other hand, the Nietzschean concept of defeating the shadow suggests that it is not a shadowless world. Arguably and interestingly, the world is full of shadows that get politically involved in the process of acquiring, as well as producing meaning.