beavour 2

Question 1

Beauvoir is one of the few Western philosophers to give a substantial place to childhood in our development into moral agents. How does childhood figure in to our ethical formation? Give sufficient detail.

Answer 1

as child you are given values: what is right or wrong
must submit to adults’
irresponsible’
believe people are determined by their roles so every thing they do is as their profession.
they do not realize they are free that everything isn’t as fixed as they veiw them
-kids can pretend to be something… if you continue this as an adult they are unethical because they are hiding

Question 2

2. Is it possible for adults to live in an infantile world? How so? Who does this apply to?

Answer 2

no because it doesn’t last past adolescence. It is nearly impossible to artificiate a world.

Question 3

3. What is so significant about the transition of adolescence for Beauvoir’s conception of ethics? Why is it a “crisis”?

Answer 3

this is when they start to realize their freedom. They assume choices and responsibility. This is when they realize that no matter what they choose doesn’t make it so they cannot choose other wise. IE married, you can choose to be divorced. no matter if you claim mother it doesn’t determine your actions. You actions are dependent of meaning we give titles.

Question 4

Beauvoir gives character sketches of numerous types of people who are living in “bad faith.”Provide descriptions of the following and explain how each is living in bad faith: 1. The sub-man

Answer 4

bad faith are those who believe they are being forced, even if they are not. people want to flee responsibility.

• where people are lazy ethically and rely on others to tell them what they are against.
• do the dirty work for the serious man

Question 5

2. The serious man

Answer 5

Most wide spread because we all started as children. We try to keep the pregiven values.
submerges freedom into object, category, label, cause and absolute.
-renews denial of freedom.
example: Ii have sworn my allegiance to a certain political party and so it is impossible for me to vote for someone the opposite party.

Question 6

3. The nihilist

Answer 6

there is no meaning at all. when you question your serious man. If this is good, but you cannot just stay in this ethically. Because then you can just say “ who cares” and do what ever they want.

Question 7

4. The adventurer.

Answer 7

closest to the authentic ethically moral attitude.

• doesn’t set up goal as absolute
• doesn’t take the existence/ projects of others seriously enough. this is the unethical portion of them
• Passionate and throw themselves into what they are passionate enough.

Question 8

5. Toward the conclusion of the chapter, Beauvoir rejects solipsism in ethics (that one can only be certain of one’s own existence and nothing else) and asserts that each freedom is inextricably tied up with the freedom of others. What does she mean by this?

Answer 8

if soplisism was true then it doesn’t matter if you live your passion in killing/ damaging others freedom, because they are not real.
We have to respect others freedom. p31