“To be free is not to possess freedom as a thing, but to constitute oneself as a free being by choosing a project. Freedom is an ongoing achievement, not a state to arrive at. It requires commitment and engagement with the world.”
—
Simone de Beauvoir
The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947); Existentialism and Popular Wisdom
Commentary
Beauvoir emphasizes that freedom is not passive or abstract. It is the active and continuous creation of meaning through projects and commitments. To surrender one's projects (as women are often encouraged to do) is to abandon freedom.
This connects her existentialism to ethics and politics: authentic existence requires that we actively pursue projects that express our freedom and contribute to the world. For women, this means rejecting the role of 'devoted wife' for projects of their own.
Commentary
Beauvoir emphasizes that freedom is not passive or abstract. It is the active and continuous creation of meaning through projects and commitments. To surrender one's projects (as women are often encouraged to do) is to abandon freedom.
This connects her existentialism to ethics and politics: authentic existence requires that we actively pursue projects that express our freedom and contribute to the world. For women, this means rejecting the role of 'devoted wife' for projects of their own.