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bjork5ever's review against another edition
5.0
gosh. I love this so much. I honestly don't want to review it until I'm sure how I think about it.
imclaugh's review against another edition
5.0
A revelation. Except for the troublingly-not-infrequent parts that reminded me of Ayn Rand. Which were creepy and disorienting.
corbad's review against another edition
2.0
Perhaps in line with many philosophical treatises on ethics, it’s a little … inhuman—often clinical, or dismissive to the point of racism and sexism—and its abstract theorizing is certainly not immediately digestible, but there are a number of really profound statements hidden in the intellectual jargon that are certainly worth working for and pondering over.
cinaedussinister's review against another edition
5.0
So I already knew most of the contents of this book bc I listened to a podcast abt it but it’s still so good. I take most of my ethics from this book, and a lot of my political philosophy. I am very picky with these two things, so that says something! I do wish it was longer though: I feel like some of the arguments could be a bit more fleshed out. Apart from that, some very good philosophy! 100% would recommend.
taransamarth's review against another edition
fast-paced
5.0
me likey! impossible not to read fanon's wretched now without reference to the (much more abstract) work she does here. pretty straightforward read
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
« Les hommes d'aujourd'hui semblent ressentir plus vivement que jamais le paradoxe de leur condition. Ils se reconnaissent pour la fin suprême à laquelle doit se subordonner toute action : mais les exigences de l'action les acculent à se traiter les uns les autres comme des instruments ou des obstacles : des moyens [...]. Chacun d'entre eux a sur les lèvres le goût incomparable de sa propre vie, et cependant chacun se sent plus insignifiant qu'un insecte au sein de l'immense collectivité dont les limites se confondent avec celles de la terre ; à aucune époque peut-être ils n'ont manifesté avec plus d'éclat leur grandeur, à aucune époque cette grandeur n'a été si atrocement bafouée. Malgré tant de mensonges têtus, à chaque instant, en toute occasion, la vérité se fait jour : la vérité de la vie et de la mort, de ma solitude et de ma liaison au monde, de ma liberté et de ma servitude, de l'insignifiance et de la souveraine importance de chaque homme et de tous les hommes [...]. Puisque nous ne réussissons pas à la fuir, essayons donc de regarder en face la vérité. Essayons d'assumer notre fondamentale ambiguïté. C'est dans la connaissance des conditions authentiques de notre vie qu'il nous faut puiser la force de vivre et des raisons d'agir. »
gibles0207's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
Did I love this book? Yes! Did i have to listen to a few lectures to make sense of part 2? Also yes. Anyways I really liked Boulevard’s ethical framework and the way she builds it up in a very like systematic way that doesn’t assume any a priori values. Her writing is a bit confusing but that just makes it more exciting when u finally figure out what she’s saying after reading the same page 3 times. Some of the stuff especially in the second part def made me think about my own attitudes at times which is the whole fun of philosophy. For the most part I was pretty sure I agreed with what the results of her ethical framework but it was still cool to read about it in a new way. Definitely will make it a lot easier to explain my thoughts to ppl in the future (see quote 2 god she’s so dope <3).
Fast Quotes
“As long as there have been men and they have lived, they have all felt this tragic ambiguity of their condition, but as long as there have been philosophers and they have thought, most of them have tried to mask it.”
“A freedom which is interested only in denying freedom must be denied. And it is not true that the recognition of the freedom of others limits my own freedom: to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom. I am oppressed if I am thrown into prison, but not if I am kept from throwing my neighbor into prison.”
“But this element of failure is a very condition of his life; one can never dream of eliminating it without immediately dreaming of death. This does not mean that one should consent to failure, but rather one must consent to struggle against it without respite.”
“Freedom is the source from which all significations and all values spring. It is the original condition of all justification of existence
Did I love this book? Yes! Did i have to listen to a few lectures to make sense of part 2? Also yes. Anyways I really liked Boulevard’s ethical framework and the way she builds it up in a very like systematic way that doesn’t assume any a priori values. Her writing is a bit confusing but that just makes it more exciting when u finally figure out what she’s saying after reading the same page 3 times. Some of the stuff especially in the second part def made me think about my own attitudes at times which is the whole fun of philosophy. For the most part I was pretty sure I agreed with what the results of her ethical framework but it was still cool to read about it in a new way. Definitely will make it a lot easier to explain my thoughts to ppl in the future (see quote 2 god she’s so dope <3).
Fast Quotes
“As long as there have been men and they have lived, they have all felt this tragic ambiguity of their condition, but as long as there have been philosophers and they have thought, most of them have tried to mask it.”
“A freedom which is interested only in denying freedom must be denied. And it is not true that the recognition of the freedom of others limits my own freedom: to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom. I am oppressed if I am thrown into prison, but not if I am kept from throwing my neighbor into prison.”
“But this element of failure is a very condition of his life; one can never dream of eliminating it without immediately dreaming of death. This does not mean that one should consent to failure, but rather one must consent to struggle against it without respite.”
“Freedom is the source from which all significations and all values spring. It is the original condition of all justification of existence
robforteath's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of brilliant passages in this book, which is unfortunately a tough slog because it reads largely like an unorganised stream of consciousness. It could be a much more pleasant experience if it had:
i) something like paragraphs
ii) sensible chapters
iii) some pruning of the myriad tangents and asides.
If you make it through to the end, you are rewarded. The final few pages of the main section, plus the conclusion, pull together everything you have read. It's a very strong defense of existentialism against the attacks that were then active but have since become cliches.
i) something like paragraphs
ii) sensible chapters
iii) some pruning of the myriad tangents and asides.
If you make it through to the end, you are rewarded. The final few pages of the main section, plus the conclusion, pull together everything you have read. It's a very strong defense of existentialism against the attacks that were then active but have since become cliches.