Choice precedes and helps fashion knowledge rather than awaiting it.
Evidence
Just as the scientist, in order to know a phenomenon, does not wait for the light of completed knowledge to break upon it; on the contrary, in illuminating the phenomenon, he helps establish the knowledge: in like manner, the man of action, in order to make a decision, will not wait for a perfect knowledge to prove to him the necessity of a certain choice; he must first choose and thus help fashion history. A choice of this kind is no more arbitrary than a hypothesis; it excludes neither reflection nor even method; but it is also free, and it implies risks that must be assumed as such. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 119
Categorization
Category: Connection Points
- DEFINE: Frames the free commitment as hypothesis-like: free yet methodical, risky but not arbitrary—core to the reader’s typology project.
Related
- Choice is the moment spirit passes into nature and morality is realized (similarity 0.79)