In Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism, he speaks of two different types of existence. These are "essence before existence" and "existence before essence." "Essence before existence" is when something is created because it already serves a purpose. For example, when Eli Whitney created the cotton gin, it already served a purpose therefore it was created. Sartre argues that humans, on the other hand, is an example of "existence before essence." He says that humans did not serve a purpose before they were created.  
In Steven Hawking's Is Everything Determined, Hawking questions whether or not everything is already pre-determined. After arguing both sides of pre-determination, whether or not it exists or not, Hawking decides that everything is already determined but he expands on how and why everything is pre-determined. He says that although everything is pre-determined, humans are not aware of that of which is already determined. Things can alter the already pre-determined such as free-will.

I agree with Stephen Hawking, partially because I grew up in a Christian private school my entire life. I believe that everything is already pre-determined, because there is a God, although the already pre-determined path can be altered due to the fact that God gave humans free-will. I do not agree with Sartre, because I believe that humans did a serve a purpose before creation, therefore they do not follow underneath the category of "existence before essence."

existentialism in our lives

In the two essays “Is Everything Determined?” and “Existentialism” the authors discuss about the debate of whether our lives a predetermined or if everything happens spur of the moment and nothing is to be expected. In Jean-Paul Sartre’s essay “Existentialism” she argues that existentialism exists and she states that “if existence really does precede essence, man is responsible for what he is.” She wants her readers to be aware of what existentialism exactly is, since it can be a confusing subject to many people who may have not ever heard of it before. She engages the reader into her argument by illustrating her points into something we can understand. In Stephen Hawking’s essay “Is Everything Determined?” he ponders the question about whether everything is meant to be or whether it isn’t. He opens up everyone’s eyes by stating “I now turn to the third problem, the questions of free will and responsibility for our actions. We feel subjectively that we have the ability to choose who we are and what we do.” He is questioning the idea that we are all free to do whatever we want in this world and choose to be whoever we want to be. This may be true in America, but it is not true in every country. So was it predetermined that America was going to be the advanced country with freedom today, when there are countries struggling such as Guatemala? The wrap up to Hawkins essay states that yes, existentialism exists, “but it might as well not be, because we can never know what is determined.” In my personal opinion, I am on board with Hawkins essay, the idea that yes some things are determined by God, but that we are also free beings who can change the plan with our own actions.

Are we responsible for our fate?

Jean Paul- Sartre introduces an approachable description of “Existentialism”. According to, Jean Paul- Sartre a major key idea to existentialism and human conditions is that ‘existence precedes essences”. The extract of something is the deliberate meaning. In “Existentialism” the idea that we “make” who and what we are is introduced. It’s important that we take the responsibility to be aware of who we are. Sartre over all point is “Existentialism is nothing else than an attempt to draw all the consequences of a coherent atheistic position. It isn’t trying to plunge man into despair at all.” In “Everything Determined” Stephen Hawking discusses the ties of fate and God’s work along with free will. Throughout the essay, he talks about free will and rather or not we should be punished for our actions.  Sartre says that we are responsible for our actions, while Hawking’s argues that God or science is the reason for our actions. I agree with both. However, I strongly agree with Sartre point more. God and fate may be responsible for some of our actions, but WE primarily choose which ones we use. We are given many options not just one, which leaves us the responsibility to choose the route we want to take. Every action we take a consequence follows. For example, a convicted murder serving a jail sentence is in jail because of the actions they chose to take. We live in a “free” world so everything is a choice. Earning a degree is an option. We often tend to forget that it’s an option because we are told it’s the “only” option. We all chose to attend college and we were responsible for our decisions. College isn’t for everyone therefore, others made the decision to do something else. My point is everyone is responsible for their actions. Other factors may determine where we may end up due to the choices WE make, but primarily we are responsible for ourselves and our actions.

      In “Existentialism” and "Is Everything Determined" they both seem to revolve around the idea  of how humanity lives its lives and how we can have a great deal of where fate takes us.  The essay Is everything Determined kind of goes into the question of whether human control their fate or is it created by God and the author, Stephen Hawking, references the play Julius Caesar. He also goes on to talk about how humanity's aggression might play a factor in how humanity's fate. At the end of the article he says everything is determined.  .  In Existentialism the author, Jean-Paul Sartre says that there is no determination what so ever because humanity is ruled by fate and circumstance. The authors are saying that we should live our lives the way that we feel they should be lived but we all have the right to a difference in our opinions. I agree more with the fact that everything is determined because I believe that God has a set plan for all of us and that He has a plan for each and every single one of us because we're created by Him. This explains why things happen the way we do because it's God's plan taking form and motion, as someone very wise once said "when things seem like they're falling apart they could really be falling into place", and although I do not know who came up with this quote I very much agree with it because I've experienced it firsthand many times throughout my life.