Beauvoir holds that individual freedom is realized only through being directed at other existences
Evidence
Passionately affi rming the connections between one’s own existence and the existence of others is the only means, for Beauvoir, of realizing one’s own freedom; in this way, freedom for myself is always freedom for the Other: “Passion is converted to genuine freedom only if one destines his existence to other existences through the being— whether thing or man— at which he aims, without hoping to entrap it in the destiny of the in-itself.” “Th us,” she adds, “we see that no existence can be validly fulfi lled if it is limited to itself. It appeals to the existence of others.” — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 659
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines Beauvoir’s conception of genuine freedom as necessarily other-directed, contrasting Sartre’s more atomistic account.
- XREF: Connects to the Beauvoir-Sartre authorship debate: Beauvoir’s ethics of the Other diverges from Sartre’s solitary for-itself in Being and Nothingness. — connects to: Marcuse argued individual happiness requires the universal attainment of positive freedom — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 238; Beauvoir’s early ethics treats freedom as necessarily directed toward others — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 76; Beauvoir held that freedom remains irrepressible even under slavery and torture — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 175 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Individual freedom is achieved only through the freedom of others
#corroborates(0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 144 - Beauvoir holds Others as essential, challenging Sartre’s ontological individualism
#expands(0.82) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 184 - Beauvoir’s moral arguments for willing others’ freedom predate Sartre’s
#expands(0.75) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 578