Existential humanism rests on transcendence and subjectivity, not a cult of man.

Evidence

But there is another sense of the word, of which the fundamental meaning is this: Man is all the time outside of himself: it is in projecting and losing himself beyond himself that he makes man to exist; and, on the other hand, it is by pursuing transcendent aims that he himself is able to exist. Since man is thus self-surpassing, and can grasp objects only in relation to his self-surpassing, he is himself the heart and center of his transcendence. There is no other universe except the human universe, the universe of human subjectivity. This relation of transcendence as constitutive of man (not in the sense that God is transcendent, but in the sense of self-surpassing) with subjectivity (in such a sense that man is not shut up in himself but forever present in a human universe) – it is this that we call existential humanism. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 33

Categorization

• DEFINE: Resolves the lecture’s central term — what existential humanism means, against Comtian idolatry of humanity.
• XREF: Pairs naturally with Beauvoir’s ethics chapter — her opening of ‘The Ethics of Ambiguity’ engages this exact definition. — connects to: Secularism is an enactment of transcendent identity, not an intellectual doctrine; Materialism reduces persons to mere objects, while existentialist subjectivity grounds human dignity. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 22
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 33

Related

• Materialism reduces persons to mere objects, while existentialist subjectivity grounds human dignity. (similarity 0.87)
• Existence precedes essence and carries a subjective quality in human reality. (similarity 0.80)
• Human existence means transcendence and constant action, not passive repose (similarity 0.78)
• Existentialists share the belief that existence precedes essence (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Secularism is an enactment of transcendent identity, not an intellectual doctrine #expands (0.75)