Ambiguity differs from absurdity in that meaning must be won, not denied

Evidence

The notion of ambiguity must not be confused with that of absurdity. To declare that existence is absurd is to deny that it can ever be given a meaning; to say that it is ambiguous is to assert that its meaning is never fixed, that it must be constantly won. Absurdity challenges every ethics; but also the finished rationalization of the real would leave no room for ethics; it is because man’s condition is ambiguous that he seeks, through failure and outrageousness, to save his existence. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 123

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core distinction between ambiguity and absurdity — the load-bearing distinction of her whole ethics.
• DEEPTHINKING: The distinction that ambiguity requires meaning to be constantly won rather than given is the engine of her entire project.
• XREF: connects to: Absurdity is defined as familiar form leading to unfamiliar conclusions — Travis Proulx, Steven J. Heine, and Kathleen D. Vohs, When Is the Unfamiliar the Uncanny?…, 29