I've always been interested in the French Existentialist writers Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre and have read most of their fiction, but I've always found the actual philosophical writing difficult to read because of the philosophical vocabulary that is used. Then I found The Ethics Of Ambiguity
while deciding which Simone De Beauvoir fiction book I would read. It seemed to be a bit more accessible as far as the language was concerned, so I picked it up. The premise of her proposition (she even has me using the philos. lingo) is that the meaning of our lives is what we make of it and that it is up to us to give our lives meaning. Also, she states that freedom is not an end result, that it must be continually cultivated in ourselves, through giving our lives meaning, and in the world at large.
I found it interesting how prescient her writing is almost as if she was peering into 2011 from her 1940's Parisian window. Or, maybe its that the times in which we live are just so aligned with her writings to make it seem so. All over the world we see people fighting for their freedoms in such organized direct ways. Maybe her views on freedom just needed the age of the internet to be fully realized.
I'm sure there is more that I can get from this book, not just because there is more there if only I'd dig, but also because of a deficit in my philosophy comprehension, so don't be surprised to see more philosophy books reviewed here.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the discourse on freedom and what it means, or anyone just looking for a book to think over.
As always, Good Reading!
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