Art redeems existence precisely by not striving to attain being

Evidence

What makes their effort genuine is that they do not propose to attain being. They distinguish themselves thereby from an engineer or a maniac. It is existence which they are trying to pin down and make eternal. The word, the stroke, the very marble indicate the object insofar as it is an absence. Only, in the work of art the lack of being returns to the positive. Time is stopped, clear forms and finished meanings rise up. In this return, existence is confirmed and establishes its own justification. This is what Kant said when he defined art as “a finality without end.” — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 71

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s typology project: distinguishes the artist (genuine) from the engineer or maniac (bad faith attempts) and anticipates the artist’s own fall into the serious when the work becomes an idol.

Related

• Willing finite projects absolutely is how one fulfills oneself (similarity 0.79)