The Ethics Of Ambiguity

In this three-page finale, de Beauvoir reaffirms the text’s major themes. Human beings are the only ones with “the power of laying the foundation of [their] own existence” (169). And yet, just because solely they are responsible for giving meaning, it does not mean that de Beauvoir’s ethical system is based on personal whim. De Beauvoir acknowledges that some people may find existentialism depressing: “It is the assertion of our finiteness which doubtless gives the doctrine which we have just evoked its austerity and, in some eyes, its sadness” (172). However, existentialism (and philosophy in general) extends the meaning of human life, even beyond the time of physical death, as part of an abstract system. De Beauvoir concludes by saying that simply by striving toward a righteous way of life, however each man chooses to define that, is sufficient. Put differently, man’s objective should be a “good which fulfills itself in aiming at it” (173).