Beauvoir rejects conflict as the paradigmatic model of human relationships

Evidence

While Beauvoir certainly recognizes that confl ict is an indispensable feature of social existence, she also maintains that it is not the only, much less the paradigmatic model for describing the possibilities that fl ow from human relationships. As Kristana Arp observes, the “bonds of freedom,” for Beauvoir, entail that my freedom can only be meaningful insofar as I exercise it not only on my own behalf but also on behalf of the Other. By bonding myself to the Other, I pledge my freedom to her freedom, indissolubly linking our respective fates in an intersubjective existence that we create together. Realizing my own freedom, then, can never consist of freeing myself from the burden of helping to secure the freedom of the Other; instead, I must work with and for the Other to provide the concrete resources necessary for us both to pursue the promise of freedom. — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 656

Categorization

• XREF: Beauvoir’s relational freedom shades toward Levinasian responsibility-for-the-Other and away from Sartre’s conflict-ridden intersubjectivity in Being and Nothingness. — connects to: Beauvoir held that human ambiguity is constitutive, not a problem to solve — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 718; Beauvoir held that every Self-Other duality inevitably breeds conflict — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 265; A unified human We-subject is impossible; conflict grounds being-for-others — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1041 (+1 more)
• DEFINE: Arp’s ‘bonds of freedom’ concept captures Beauvoir’s positive, constructive intersubjectivity.

Broader Connections

• The ideal of loving unity with the Other is structurally unrealizable and breeds conflict #contradicts (0.92) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 941
• A unified human We-subject is impossible; conflict grounds being-for-others #contradicts (0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1041