system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What does it mean for existence to precede essence in existential philosophy?
gpt
The phrase "existence precedes essence" is Sartre's statement about radical free will in humans.

Sartre claims that the human condition is one of constant choice. We may come from certain culture, have certain physical limitations, etc. but we still experience our lives as one in which we must choose who/what we will be. Unlike, say, a tree, we don't have any programmed pattern for our self development--in other words, some essence that determines our existence.