Comparing Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, And Hannah Arendt

Freedom and Liberty The three philosophers Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Hannah Arendt all have opinions and viewpoints about the ideas freedom and liberty. This paper will examine relevant passages from Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, Sartre’s Existentialism and Human Emotions, and Arendt’s What is Freedom. Along with looking at the three texts, the philosopher’s views on freedom and liberty will be examined, as well as my own personal thoughts. Out of the three views of freedom, I would agree with Beauvoir’s theory because it addresses both the social and individual choice to be free. Beauvoir’s view of freedom is that there is both a social and individual influence on our ability to be free. Beauvoir is against the idea of
Many sources try to influence people’s actions, but the individual ultimately decides their own choices. The individual choice to be free is a personal choice made by everyone on who he or she is and who he or she will become. The social choice to be free is one that is also individual, but has social influence. One is influenced by society’s values and norms, but still is independent in making the decision by his or her self. Although one may be influenced to conform to others in society, I believe that it is much more noble to be truthful to oneself and be ones own
There are two types of freedom. The first type of freedom is the freedom to do things. These freedoms give people the ability to do actions and are positive. An example of a positive freedom would be free speech. The second type of freedom is negative freedoms, which exclude certain actions. An example of a negative freedom would be freedom from violence. The philosophical view freedom is that freedom is an individual action, non political, and involves free will. Arendt believes that freedom is political and that politics would cease to be without freedom (145). She says when talking about politics, “…the problem of freedom is crucial, and no political theory can afford to remain unconcerned with…this problem…” (145). Politics need freedom because of the individual’s choice to choose certain candidates to represent their county, town, country, etc. Arendt also believes that freedom is a human condition, something we are born with, and common to all human beings like being born and