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sssummer's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this book! It's one of those philosophy books you pick and can immediately tell the author is just a whole different level of intelligence, both intellectually and emotionally. I annotated the first half and there were just so many great lines and sections to make note of that I had to stop or never finish reading it. The main thesis/purpose of the book is Beauvoir's belief that existentialism does implicate an ethical theory, but honestly, I found some of the more notable parts to be the less relevant commentary she writes here and there. She has a way of explaining even things you already know so clearly that you feel like you have a refreshed insight. Even with the translation from French, I would consider this an easy to medium level of readability for a continental philosophy book. There are a lot of references to other philosophy, art, and history that a lot of went over my head.
To significantly reduce the main idea, she argues that the goal of ethics is the optimization of freedom. It's a great theory, and the fact that she builds her metaethics on her metaphysics makes it all so much more interesting and compelling. It's consequentialist heavy, so it's subject to the same issues as other consequentialist theories, but I do think it's one of the better ones. I also think of note is that 'optimizing freedom' is also much more complicated than other consequentialist theories. For example, consider how it compares to the Utilitarian idea goal of 'maximizing pleasure'. Pleasure is a much more tactile and measurable unit than freedom. And 'maximizing' is also more straightforward than 'optimizing'.
I have one other thing about this philosophy that I think is odd: the way emotion is discussed and handled is almost non-existent, and when existent: eerie. The reason I believe this to be is that (existentialist theory as far as I've explored) also largely ignores human emotion or writes it off in an unsatisfying way. My personal take is that this is because the existence of emotions presents somewhat of a hole in the underlying metaphysical theory of existentialism - but don't worry I won't go into that too much here, I promise. So while I do think this book is incredibly intelligent, there's a lot that I actually do not agree with at the end of the day.
Also, not to be a feminist, but her idea for an existentialist ethics is way better than Sarte's (Exsistnatalism is Humanism).
To significantly reduce the main idea, she argues that the goal of ethics is the optimization of freedom. It's a great theory, and the fact that she builds her metaethics on her metaphysics makes it all so much more interesting and compelling. It's consequentialist heavy, so it's subject to the same issues as other consequentialist theories, but I do think it's one of the better ones. I also think of note is that 'optimizing freedom' is also much more complicated than other consequentialist theories. For example, consider how it compares to the Utilitarian idea goal of 'maximizing pleasure'. Pleasure is a much more tactile and measurable unit than freedom. And 'maximizing' is also more straightforward than 'optimizing'.
I have one other thing about this philosophy that I think is odd: the way emotion is discussed and handled is almost non-existent, and when existent: eerie. The reason I believe this to be is that (existentialist theory as far as I've explored) also largely ignores human emotion or writes it off in an unsatisfying way. My personal take is that this is because the existence of emotions presents somewhat of a hole in the underlying metaphysical theory of existentialism - but don't worry I won't go into that too much here, I promise. So while I do think this book is incredibly intelligent, there's a lot that I actually do not agree with at the end of the day.
Also, not to be a feminist, but her idea for an existentialist ethics is way better than Sarte's (Exsistnatalism is Humanism).
paul_viaf's review against another edition
4.0
As the title suggests, de Beauvoir keenly delves into the murkiness of ethics, beyond the Janus of humanity’s psychological face, & into the multidimensional contours of this edifice. Admittedly, this was my first bit of philosophy in quite some time. I am by no means a philosophy major nor do I claim to be. Enigmatic at first, the loop de loops of language began to grow on me & the premise slowly began to bear its form. It begins with the natural state of man which immediately ignites the fuse to the question of the nature of free will. As this is unequivocally from an existentialist perspective, one must not allow preconceived notions to cement its reputation. It is hinged on the realistic of clear observation. The reflection in the mirror scolds the observer with unequivocal truths. This is not a tale of dark peril. On the contrary, it is a tale which sheds light on truth & asks society to realize that if it chooses, in its innate nature, to actuate atrocities or noble feats, the individual is solely accountable. Much of the primary concern seems to deal with identifying the delusion of self, embracing it, becoming onerous to the denial, diagnosing it & taking steps towards changes, if one wills that way. It is quite the poignant lesson in self-identification. It does not suggest how to curtail one’s behavior. Merely to state why it happens & that it does indeed happen. She proposes that all human beings possess weapons of will to combat against the gauntlet of our world, focusing on the individual operating in its particularity while submersed in the apparatus of the collective in the pattern of a Venn diagram affecting & coexisting in a symbiotic & inseparable fashion. She splays out finely sliced situations to reveal the intricate flavors involved to conceive the flavorful life we endure. Yet no one ever said that cornucopia of flavors did not incorporate the bitter or even the acrid. The highly deductive text expresses, with piercing language, all the goodies. Consciousness. Morality. Primal urges. Evil. Motive. Social roles. Justice. Revolution. On blatant frames her articulation strokes these structures with eloquence & clarity. Accompanied by a superlative didactic, her linguistics sharpen ethics & morals with the adze of her wisdom. She works as a crafty metallurgist pounding this amalgam of ores into something meaningful; into a coherent design. A compass to navigate towards a well-informed path. By far one of my favorite segments was Freedom & Liberation. It stirred me so with feelings of fervor yet without the slightest hint of sensationalist language. The blatantly coherent summation of what occurs betwixt these very living entities is enough to make me want to carve revolution into my chest. It revives in me something very fiery. It startles me & sickens me. There is a tinge of despair. Of pessimism. The dichotomy between the oppressed & oppressor was dissected so pellucidly, I could see the hearts of each persona stirring with self-fulfilling desires only made possible by calculated incisions into this delicate tissue, unveiling the deepest buried gears of sociological cognition, revealing the operative motions to the cogs themselves. Uncovered from a convoluted soil are the organs which sustain the life force of motives. They are philosophically photographed as objects which spring forth the action which we experience daily on our chaotic sociopolitical plains. In short, a fantastic read.
I leave this review on a great explanatory quote from the author herself, “I think that, inversely, existentialism does not offer to the reader the consolations of an abstract evasion: existentialism proposes no evasion. On the contrary, its ethics is experienced in the truth of life, & it then appears as he only proposition of salvation which one can address to man.”
I leave this review on a great explanatory quote from the author herself, “I think that, inversely, existentialism does not offer to the reader the consolations of an abstract evasion: existentialism proposes no evasion. On the contrary, its ethics is experienced in the truth of life, & it then appears as he only proposition of salvation which one can address to man.”
stephenmeansme's review
The French do philosophy in their own special way. The existentialists and modernists even more so. Picking this up as a book club read made all these special ways a big fat obstacle. The book is less than 150 pages but only a third of the club managed to finish it. That's not to knock the big takeaways of de Beauvoir's work, but it's hard to recommend the original when other people can put the ideas into plain talk.
Good parts (that I read): the personality types/stages, which seemed plausible yet evocative. The bit about the "aesthetic attitude" and the use of "natural" arguments to legitimize oppression.
Not so good parts: This book was originally a series of articles, published in Sartre's existentialist journal, in response to Sartre and friends. So it's rather hard to penetrate (especially the first section) if you haven't been reading the existentialists and their predecessors. French philosophy thrives on ambiguity and wordplay, and I'm ambivalent about that. I don't find a philosopher compelling who needs a whole team of exegetes. Thankfully I don't think de Beauvoir is that far gone, but there were long passages where I just couldn't pin anything down. (It doesn't help that she repeats the words "facticity," "being, "existence," "disclose," and so on in long permutations, something like "being becomes existence by making itself a lack of being and in so doing disclosing itself to itself, whereas being itself cannot come to existence but falls back into a mere facticity" and I fell asleep.
Two and a half stars rounded down. This isn't bad philosophy, but I don't think it's philosophy for the general public (or even the "general reader"!).
Good parts (that I read): the personality types/stages, which seemed plausible yet evocative. The bit about the "aesthetic attitude" and the use of "natural" arguments to legitimize oppression.
Not so good parts: This book was originally a series of articles, published in Sartre's existentialist journal, in response to Sartre and friends. So it's rather hard to penetrate (especially the first section) if you haven't been reading the existentialists and their predecessors. French philosophy thrives on ambiguity and wordplay, and I'm ambivalent about that. I don't find a philosopher compelling who needs a whole team of exegetes. Thankfully I don't think de Beauvoir is that far gone, but there were long passages where I just couldn't pin anything down. (It doesn't help that she repeats the words "facticity," "being, "existence," "disclose," and so on in long permutations, something like "being becomes existence by making itself a lack of being and in so doing disclosing itself to itself, whereas being itself cannot come to existence but falls back into a mere facticity" and I fell asleep.
Two and a half stars rounded down. This isn't bad philosophy, but I don't think it's philosophy for the general public (or even the "general reader"!).
johnnynolen's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing book with some great points, but shines best when read as a supplement of follow up to a lot of other philosophical readings. Perfect if you want a polishing wax on freedom and personal responsibility.
booksnpunks's review against another edition
2.0
I was told this was a good book for "beginners" but I struggled so much with this, have been reading it since May and had to push myself through. What Simone says is nevertheless fascinating and vital to the existential school of thought but the density of this text was too heavy for me. I am going to try Simone's fiction and read some hopefully easier texts and then maybe I can revisit this.
rebecanunez's review against another edition
3.0
"The Ethics of Ambiguity" (La ética de la ambigüedad) de Simone de Beauvoir es una obra filosófica profunda y provocadora que explora la condición humana y la responsabilidad individual en un mundo existencialmente ambiguo. Publicado por primera vez en 1947, el libro es una contribución clave al existencialismo y al feminismo, ofreciendo una visión única sobre la libertad, la responsabilidad y la moralidad.
De Beauvoir comienza la obra con una reflexión sobre la libertad y la ambigüedad inherente a la existencia humana. Sostiene que la libertad es una característica esencial de la condición humana, pero esta libertad también lleva consigo la responsabilidad y la carga de tomar decisiones auténticas en un mundo donde no hay valores preexistentes.
La autora examina la noción de la "mujer en sí" y la "mujer para sí", argumentando que las mujeres, al igual que los hombres, deben superar las limitaciones impuestas por la sociedad y reclamar su autonomía y libertad. "The Ethics of Ambiguity" es una contribución importante al pensamiento feminista, ya que De Beauvoir destaca la importancia de que las mujeres sean agentes autónomos en la creación de sus vidas y la construcción de su identidad.
La ética propuesta por De Beauvoir implica reconocer y abrazar la ambigüedad de la existencia. Aunque el mundo puede carecer de un significado inherente, cada individuo tiene la responsabilidad de crear su propio significado y comprometerse éticamente con la libertad y la responsabilidad. Esta ética implica enfrentar la angustia y la incertidumbre de la existencia y, al mismo tiempo, buscar una conexión auténtica con los demás.
La obra también aborda cuestiones sociales y políticas, explorando cómo las estructuras sociales y políticas pueden perpetuar la opresión y limitar la libertad individual. De Beauvoir aboga por la resistencia activa contra las estructuras opresivas y la solidaridad entre individuos en la búsqueda de una libertad auténtica.
El estilo de escritura de De Beauvoir es denso y reflexivo, y su argumento está fundamentado en una comprensión profunda de la filosofía existencialista y fenomenológica. La obra es desafiante, pero también esclarecedora para aquellos dispuestos a sumergirse en la filosofía existencial.
En resumen, "The Ethics of Ambiguity" es una obra fundamental que aborda cuestiones existenciales, éticas y feministas de manera provocativa y profunda. Simone de Beauvoir ofrece una perspectiva filosófica rica y original sobre la libertad y la responsabilidad, destacando la importancia de abrazar la ambigüedad de la vida y comprometerse con la creación ética de significado en un mundo aparentemente sin sentido.
De Beauvoir comienza la obra con una reflexión sobre la libertad y la ambigüedad inherente a la existencia humana. Sostiene que la libertad es una característica esencial de la condición humana, pero esta libertad también lleva consigo la responsabilidad y la carga de tomar decisiones auténticas en un mundo donde no hay valores preexistentes.
La autora examina la noción de la "mujer en sí" y la "mujer para sí", argumentando que las mujeres, al igual que los hombres, deben superar las limitaciones impuestas por la sociedad y reclamar su autonomía y libertad. "The Ethics of Ambiguity" es una contribución importante al pensamiento feminista, ya que De Beauvoir destaca la importancia de que las mujeres sean agentes autónomos en la creación de sus vidas y la construcción de su identidad.
La ética propuesta por De Beauvoir implica reconocer y abrazar la ambigüedad de la existencia. Aunque el mundo puede carecer de un significado inherente, cada individuo tiene la responsabilidad de crear su propio significado y comprometerse éticamente con la libertad y la responsabilidad. Esta ética implica enfrentar la angustia y la incertidumbre de la existencia y, al mismo tiempo, buscar una conexión auténtica con los demás.
La obra también aborda cuestiones sociales y políticas, explorando cómo las estructuras sociales y políticas pueden perpetuar la opresión y limitar la libertad individual. De Beauvoir aboga por la resistencia activa contra las estructuras opresivas y la solidaridad entre individuos en la búsqueda de una libertad auténtica.
El estilo de escritura de De Beauvoir es denso y reflexivo, y su argumento está fundamentado en una comprensión profunda de la filosofía existencialista y fenomenológica. La obra es desafiante, pero también esclarecedora para aquellos dispuestos a sumergirse en la filosofía existencial.
En resumen, "The Ethics of Ambiguity" es una obra fundamental que aborda cuestiones existenciales, éticas y feministas de manera provocativa y profunda. Simone de Beauvoir ofrece una perspectiva filosófica rica y original sobre la libertad y la responsabilidad, destacando la importancia de abrazar la ambigüedad de la vida y comprometerse con la creación ética de significado en un mundo aparentemente sin sentido.
zesty_lemon's review against another edition
3.0
A real ontological slog, but not in the service of wasted words. I hadn’t read any philosophical theory before this book and found it hard to follow at first, but the scientist in me eventually appreciated the pure logical reasoning that forms the basis for her rhetoric.
Simone de Beauvoir challenges the assertion of earlier scholars that existentialism is a “sterile anguish” because it provides no moral framework in which a person can make decisions. She posits that morality is a subjective and continuous exercise that can only exist if it actively promotes the freedoms of ourselves and people around us. This proposed moral code is applied to critique the social conflicts and revolutions that were occurring around her in the mid-20th century but is also relevant to discussion of the events of the 21st century.
It may take you months to complete, but you will emerge a better critical reader and with a radically altered view of what it means to be human in a seemingly ineluctable world. I would recommend to anyone who wants a literary challenge or to dip their toe into the ocean of existentialism, although Sarte’s Being and Nothingness might be a better place to start, as she references it heavily.
Simone de Beauvoir challenges the assertion of earlier scholars that existentialism is a “sterile anguish” because it provides no moral framework in which a person can make decisions. She posits that morality is a subjective and continuous exercise that can only exist if it actively promotes the freedoms of ourselves and people around us. This proposed moral code is applied to critique the social conflicts and revolutions that were occurring around her in the mid-20th century but is also relevant to discussion of the events of the 21st century.
It may take you months to complete, but you will emerge a better critical reader and with a radically altered view of what it means to be human in a seemingly ineluctable world. I would recommend to anyone who wants a literary challenge or to dip their toe into the ocean of existentialism, although Sarte’s Being and Nothingness might be a better place to start, as she references it heavily.