Existentialism DE Beauvoir pdf PDF

Preview

Summary

Simone De Beauvoir- Ethics of Ambiguity notes
...

Description

EXISTENTIALISM PRESENTATION - DE BEAUVOIR The Ethics of Ambiguity part 1: Ambiguity and Freedom I’m going to try and keep the presentation relatively confined to her first chapter, but there will be some bits that overlap between chapters. I will start off by outlining the structure of my presentation. (1) I will first explain some of the key aspects in De Beauvoir’s Ambiguity and Freedom, and how her existentialism echos that of Sartre. (2) I will then look at some of the ideas that Oganowski looks at surrounding De Beauvoir’s ethics, in particular, the connection found between her ethical perspective and contemporary feminism. (3) I’ll provide some thoughts on Oganowski’s ideas, and then (4) End with a brief summary. (1) De Beauvoir Chapter 1 & Sartre • De Beauvoir begins by, in some ways, describing the human condition. Sartre discusses being-in-itself and being-for-itself, which is the jumping off point for De Beauvoir in Ethics and Ambiguity. • According to Sartre, man is both facticity, and transcendence, and tension arises out of the fact that man is both of these, simultaneously. But De Beauvoir expands to show how a person is even more than facticity and transcendence. • A person is subject and object, an individual and part of a collective. • This tension has led to some philosophies and ideologies reducing people to one side of the tension; trying to affirm that the world is subjective— perhaps that the world is mine for me. Or, trying to affirm that the world is pure objectivity. • De Beauvoir states these philosophies might include “reasonable metaphysics and consoling ethics with which they’d like to entice us”. • However, De Beauvoir claims the denial of this tension between subject and object cannot hold, and rather we must accept that the human condition is ambiguous. • There are some quotes where she describes the human condition…“being a sovereign and unique subject amidst a universe of objects” ,“in turn for an object for others, nothing more than an individual in the collectivity on which he depends.”. A way people try to escape ambiguity is to “make oneself pure inwardness or pure externality, by escaping from the sensible world or by being engulfed in it”.

• The ambiguity of the human condition might intuitively lead to the view that existentialism is a philosophy of despair. • Sartre deems man to fail when trying to act like God, trying to perfectly harmonise being-initself with being-for-itself, rather than accepting that the two are in tension.

• Bet we might just argue that believing there is a moral grounding in God is no bad thing… without moral grounding in God, or in something else, do we not end up with moral relativism? • De Beauvoir includes a quote from Dostoevsky “without God, all things are permitted”. • De Beauvoir demonstrates how what comes with our freedom is that we have moral responsibility for all the choices we make. • There are two types of freedom that are considered by De Beauvoir: Ontological freedom, which is an inalienable freedom that we all have in virtue of being human beings (this is the freedom mostly discussed by Sartre -“man is condemned to be free”). • Yet we also have moral freedom, which is freedom in the form of choice— either will to be moral or run away from it. Quote “to will oneself moral and to will oneself free are one and the same decision”. If I want to be morally free I must act in a way that allows other to also be free. (2) I will now move on to looking at a paper by Kristen Oganowski. • Doctoral student Oganowski observes how connections can be drawn between De Beauvoir’s ethics, relation, care ethics and feminism. • De Beauvoir’s emphasis on the intersubjectivity of the self, based on the ambiguity of the human condition, is a theme we can see hints of within contemporary feminist thought. • The acknowledgement that the self is both subject and object; is both independent and dependent. There is necessary reciprocity surrounding how we need to act in order to be morally free individuals. • De Beauvoir states that moral freedom, whatever one chooses to do with it, entails having responsibility for the choice, and this responsibility should be taken very seriously, because all choices and responsibilities shape our life and the lives of others. • If I will myself free I will myself moral, and should reciprocate the acknowledgement of others’ freedom. • Oganowski figures that De Beauvoir’s ethics is a fundamentally relational one. Freedom of choice is necessarily grounded in reciprocity. • When we acknowledge our freedom and use it, we help to make my freedom and the freedom of others possible. • This reciprocal view of freedom contains having concern for persons as individuals; that people have unique circumstances, not just that they are part of a shared collective. In this way we can draw a parallel between De Beauvoir’s ethics and Care Ethics— which is an ethic very relevant to contemporary feminism. • “What’s more, by describing genuine love for another person as an act in which one completely respects and encourages the other person’s moral freedom, Beauvoir links love, care, and ethics both uniquely and inextricably”

• With particular regards to De Beauvoir, and feminist ethics, reciprocity is understanding the shared responsibilities we have in both the private and public spheres—reciprocating respect and responsibility in a family or between individuals on the one hand, and to laws or policies that promote this reciprocity in a political domain on the other. • The notion that we have shared responsibility, because ourselves and Others both belong to our worlds, and this shared responsibility includes reciprocating respect. • This has relevance to feminism, as we could read this reciprocal respect is necessary between genders themselves, and also within the context of the private sphere, rather than just the public • However, ethics of care are both criticised and endorsed by feminist theories • De Beauvoir’s ethics can be seen to maintain that individuals all have freedom of choice based on the ambiguity of the human condition • A way to reject that care is more central to the female gender? (3) Critical thoughts and opinions • Oganowski expands on various ways that De Beauvoir’s ethics based on ambiguity and freedom can be interpreted • It’s definitely possible to curve De Beauvoir’s ideas into various directions; some she might be happy with some she might not • The human condition is ultimately ambiguous, which might lead people to interpret her as believing that men and women all have the exact same freedom of choice • Although this true in ways, in her latter work The Second Sex, she discusses ideas coming from Sartre & Ethics and Ambiguity, like the notions of self and Other • In her later work, she acknowledges that Man occupies the role of the self, or subject; woman is the object, the other • She claims that: "a woman's situation, still, even today, prevents her from exploring the world's basic problems.” • So I think the feminist notions that can be taken from Ethics and Ambiguity should not be read as her final word in the subject, because it is not • Nonetheless it provides interesting insight • My overall opinions on De Beauvoir are positive, I think she is very thorough in her writing • Her prose is very well written and enjoyable • I think she takes many Sartrean ideas such as the self and Other, and expands them in a unique but optimistic light by emphasising “ambiguity” rather than man as “useless passion” • The ethics that come out of freedom are seemingly natural, so in a way her ethical theory does not even require much direct convincing (4) Summary Board

Freedom, morality and The Other are connected inexplicable— they couldn’t exist without another The descriptive freedom and freedom as value Embrace freedom and use it authentically? I know your freedom because I know mine Being for itself is inherently connected with other You are subjective by very nature No such thing as an isolated individual— intersubjectivity We are co-creators; meaning and value are disclosed intersubjectively An ambiguity; conflict. Different disclosures of peoples freedom Forcing people to be free; oppression. She recognises that not everyone is free to be free, the mind is in chains, the societal account of who you are Authenticity = willing yourself and others free Freedom as a source of value— only coherent to value that source of value; intersubjectivity...