MONOCULTURE | A Recent History

Simone de Beauvoir, Pour une Morale de l'Ambiguïté (The Ethics of Ambiguity), 1947
Published by Librairie Gallimard
First edition
Collection M HKA, Antwerp 

In Pour une morale de l'ambiguïté, philosopher Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) describes a human being's life as a constant tension between object and subject, body and mind, death and life, uselessness and meaning. She talks about this as the basic ambiguity of the human condition. Throughout history, philosophers have always attempted to deny, hide or eliminate this ambiguity. In their search for truth, they ignore important features of life such as chance, contradiction and plurality. According to de Beauvoir, it is precisely the recognition and acceptance of our ambiguity that forms the basis for a credible, progressive and humane ethics. This ethics originates in the freedom that enables a human being to realise her/himself, as well as the world he or she wants. Although according to de Beauvoir there are no predetermined universal laws on which an ethics can be based, including spiritual or ideological, this does not lead to arbitrariness. Out of ambiguity and freedom, people develop a moral existence that develops its own coherence over time. According to de Beauvoir, what matters is what we do with our freedom and how we can focus it, not only on ourselves, but also on the world – by taking up commitments and responsibilities. In this way, a person actively positions her/himself in the world. At the same time, the realisation of one’s own freedom is linked to solidarity with others. De Beauvoir reasons that if we accept our ambiguity, our relation with the Other can never be one of dominance, oppression or assimilation. A moral engagement with fellow human beings allows us to share the world with one another and can subsequently lead to political and social connections.