Episode 141: De Beauvoir's Existentialism: Moral and Political Dilemmas
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Mark Linsenmayer
4.6 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 13 June 2016
⏱️ 110 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
More on The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947), this time on part III. (For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, go here). Ep. 140 laid out man's "ambiguity," but what does that mean in terms of practical decision making? B. talks about the practical paradoxes of dealing with oppression and what it might mean to respect the individual, given that there's no ultimate, pre-existent moral rulebook to guide us, nothing we can point to to excuse the sacrifice of someone to a "greater good."
Become a PEL Citizen to listen to the the Aftershow featuring Beauvoir scholar Jennifer Hansen.
End song: "Indiscretion (Mess Things Up)" from the 1993 Mark Lint album Spanish Armada: Songs of Love and Related Neuroses.
Transcript
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| 0:23.0 | Now please enjoy the show. |
| 0:30.0 | You are listening to the partially examined life, a philosophy podcast by some guys who |
| 0:36.2 | read one point said on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. |
| 0:40.0 | Our question for episode 141 is something like, how does recognition of our freedom affect |
| 0:46.0 | what we should do ethically and politically? |
| 0:48.2 | And we're continuing our discussion of Simone Dubu-Boirs, the Ethics of Ambiguity, 1947. |
| 0:53.6 | This time covering part three, the positive aspect of ambiguity. |
| 0:58.0 | You can join the discussion, get the text and lots more information at partiallyexaminalife.com. |
| 1:03.2 | This is Mark Lins and my rationalistically optimistic, a Madison Wisconsin. |
| 1:07.5 | This is Seth Pascon, having abandoned his past to the night of facticity in Austin, Texas. |
| 1:14.5 | This is Wes all on making the means, justify the ends and Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 1:20.2 | This is Dylan Casey choosing between contingent absurdity and rationalistic necessity in middle |
| 1:25.9 | of Wisconsin. |
| 1:27.2 | Last time, and folks should listen to the previous episode before this because we're really just |
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