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Analysis Of Simone De Beauvoir's Ethics Of Ambiguity

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In Simone De Beauvoir 's Ethics of Ambiguity, she identifies a series of characters in an attempt to make themes easier for the reader to understand through their personification. These consist of the sub-man, serious man, nihilist, adventurer and the passionate man. Each of these characters overcome and surpass the former 's deficiencies, and therefore can live up to the responsibilities of freedom. Let us further evaluate the ideas of ethical freedom as explained by Beauvoir. According to Beauvoir, happiness, unhappiness, and the search for meaning in life is based upon shared experiences of the human condition as a child. She suggests that people are born into the world protected from the harsh anxieties of existence and freedom. These …show more content…

First, one must assume his own subjectivity (Ethics 2:41-42). In other words, one must realize his or her own place in life and come to terms with their individual being. There are, however, some flaws in the assuming of one 's own subjectivity. These flaws could be the desire of one to obtain more being or increasing the value of one 's being. It is tempting for one to try and obtain more being, however, Beauvoir notes this as living inauthentic. The reason behind this is because one cannot obtain any more being than they already possess. It is also important to realize that being cannot be equated with happiness. One cannot increase happiness by increasing the value of one’s being because it is impossible to increase the value of one 's being in the first place. So, the challenge of assuming one 's own subjectivity is letting go of the desire to be and accepting that you just are. In other words, finding an acceptance and embracing who you are and being satisfied with who you are. The second component of obtaining ethical freedom is the realization that one must work towards the freedom of humankind. This is realizing that individuals exist in relation to one another, and the existence of others justifies the existence of us as individuals (Ethics 2:71-72). Because we are connected in this way, to be free, one must accept and understand that others should also

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