Simone de Beauvoir: “To will oneself…”

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to The Ethics of Ambiguity and files it under Existentialism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) was a French existentialist philosopher and novelist whose The Second Sex (1949) transformed feminist theory. A Normalienne, she partnered intellectually with Sartre while building an independent oeuvre on ethics, aging, and politics.

Interpretation

Beauvoir's claim is that freedom is not a private possession. In The Ethics of Ambiguity she argues that willing my own freedom requires willing the freedom of others, because my possibilities are opened or closed by theirs, and because a freedom secured by another's subjection rests on a condition that can be withdrawn. The argument is structural rather than charitable. It is her answer to the charge that existentialism is solipsistic.

Why it matters

It makes concern for others' freedom a condition of one's own rather than a sacrifice of it, which changes what is at stake in ignoring it.

Concepts in this quote

Freedom: Freedom is among the most searched and most contested themes in philosophy: what it is to choose, to be responsible, and to live without illegitimate constraint.
Otherness: Otherness appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat otherness as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
Ethics: Ethics appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat ethics as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Simone de Beauvoir. (n.d.). To will oneself free is also to will others free. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0109

MLA: Simone de Beauvoir. “To will oneself free is also to will….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0109.

Chicago: Simone de Beauvoir. “To will oneself free is also to will….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0109.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “To will oneself free is also to will…”?

The passage is attributed to Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity. The archive attributes this English wording to The Ethics of Ambiguity and files it under Existentialism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Simone de Beauvoir mean by freedom?

Philosophers distinguish several ideas under the single word freedom. Negative freedom emphasizes non-interference; positive freedom emphasizes the capacity to act according to reasons, virtue, or authentic desire. This passage enters that discussion through freedom, otherness, ethics.