Book contents
- Why Read Beauvoir Today?
- Why Read Them Today?
- Why Read Beauvoir Today?
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1Life, Autobiography, and Philosophy
- Chapter 2Human Existence and Human Projects
- Chapter 3Freedom and Responsibility
- Chapter 4The Other Sex
- Chapter 5Submission and Complicity
- Chapter 6A Phenomenology of Bodies
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Chapter 2 - Human Existence and Human Projects
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 June 2026
Book contents
- Why Read Beauvoir Today?
- Why Read Them Today?
- Why Read Beauvoir Today?
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1Life, Autobiography, and Philosophy
- Chapter 2Human Existence and Human Projects
- Chapter 3Freedom and Responsibility
- Chapter 4The Other Sex
- Chapter 5Submission and Complicity
- Chapter 6A Phenomenology of Bodies
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
According to Beauvoir’s existentialist philosophy, human beings have no essence; they must create themselves through their actions and choices. Projects are central to our very humanity. But does it matter what these projects are intended to achieve? Is it up to each individual to choose their own projects and goals? Can the commitment to a project, and its goal, become unethical? Chapter 2 explores these questions and examines Beauvoir’s answers in The Ethics of Ambiguity and Pyrrhus and Cineas. These works mark the beginning of Beauvoir’s journey away from her youthful individualism. While exploring human freedom and asserting the moral imperative to exercise one’s freedom, they also start to investigate the limits of freedom, a theme that looms large in her subsequent works.
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- Why Read Beauvoir Today? , pp. 28 - 46Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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