“Men of today seem to feel more acutely than ever the paradox of their condition.”

— Simone de Beauvoir , book The Ethics of Ambiguity

Part I : Ambiguity and Freedom
The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947)
Context: Men of today seem to feel more acutely than ever the paradox of their condition. They know themselves to be the supreme end to which all action should be subordinated, but the exigencies of action force them to treat one another as instruments or obstacles, as means. The more widespread their mastery of the world, the more they find themselves crushed by uncontrollable forces.

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Simone de Beauvoir 152

French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, po… 1908–1986

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