The philosophy of existentialism is complex since it implies the study of the human condition. In his essay “Existentialism and Humanism,” Sartre, who is considered the founder of the specified philosophy, was famously against using the identified term. Instead, Sartre preferred speaking about the philosophy in which the mere act of existence had a more pronounced meaning than the essence.
The term “existentialism” was not to be suggested for another era when Socrates worked on his magnum opus. So, it could be regarded as dubious that he would be called an existentialist. Indeed, according to Sartre, existentialism implies emphasizing existence entirely. Thus, when considering the possibility of Socrates being one, it has to be mentioned that Sartre refers to Socrates’ philosophical postulates in his work extensively. The fact that a significant number of Sartre’s philosophical tenets are built on the platform provided by Socrates’ ideas implies that the concept of existentialism can be applied to Socrates’ teachings. A closer look at how Socrates’ position is defended in Plato’s “Apology” will show that the philosopher explains his existence from the perspective of the prophecy made by a Delphi Oracle. Therefore, the very understanding of existence as described by Socrates is different from the existentialist perspective, which implies a connection between the existence concepts introduced to readers by Sartre and the principles on which Socrates’ theory is built. Hence, there are reasons to assume that Socrates’ philosophy incorporates elements of existentialism.
Nonetheless, defining Socrates as an existentialist in the modern meaning of the word would be a mistake. The ideas he provided did not fully coincide with existentialism principles. Consequently, it could be argued that Socrates’ philosophy represents the platform for transferring to the realm of existentialism. Socrates collated the idea of freedom, particularly, free will as the foundation for making a conscious choice between telling the truth and a lie. The ability to sustain one’s humanity is also viewed as an integral part of Socrates’ philosophy. Finally, the ability to make a conscious choice, which is an essential postulate of Socrates’ philosophy, also factors into the context of Sartre’s idea of existentialism. Therefore, viewing Socrates as an existentialist can be regarded as a possibility. Even though Sartre borrowed only some of Socrates’ ideas to build the philosophical movement that would afterward be defined as existentialism, there is a possibility that Socrates would have recognized the ideas proposed by Sartre as sensible.