We are our Possibilities: From Sartre to Beauvoir to Løgstrup

Matthew James Ratcliffe

We are our Possibilities: From Sartre to Beauvoir to Løgstrup

Philosophy

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

This chapter develops a perspective on the phenomenology of freedom, emphasizing its dependence on a sense of relational possibilities involving other people. I draw upon and integrate themes in the works of three philosophers: Jean-Paul Sartre; Simone de Beauvoir; and Knud Ejler Løgstrup. In so doing, I propose that the experience of oneself as a free agent is not primarily a matter of how certain activities and thoughts are experienced—those that involve an elusive feeling or quale of choice or effort. Instead, it consists in a multi-faceted sense of the possible, which is inseparable from the overall structure of human experience and amenable to further analysis. Integral to it are a number of interrelated ways in which one’s own possibilities relate to the possibilities of others; I can be my possibilities only insofar as you are yours and we are ours. In particular, I suggest that the experience of freedom presupposes a basic form of interpersonal trust.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Routledge Companion to Contemporary Existentialism
Editors	Kevin Aho, Megan Altman, Christian Pedersen
Publisher	Routledge
Chapter	22
ISBN (Print)	9781032162584
Publication status	Published - Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

Embargoed Document

Ratcliffe We are our Possibilities FINAL 17.04.23
Accepted author manuscript, 185 KB
Embargo ends: 30/10/25

Cite this

@inbook{7dbcf5cf647742fd9680447114b92758,

title = "We are our Possibilities: From Sartre to Beauvoir to L{\o}gstrup",

abstract = "This chapter develops a perspective on the phenomenology of freedom, emphasizing its dependence on a sense of relational possibilities involving other people. I draw upon and integrate themes in the works of three philosophers: Jean-Paul Sartre; Simone de Beauvoir; and Knud Ejler L{\o}gstrup. In so doing, I propose that the experience of oneself as a free agent is not primarily a matter of how certain activities and thoughts are experienced—those that involve an elusive feeling or quale of choice or effort. Instead, it consists in a multi-faceted sense of the possible, which is inseparable from the overall structure of human experience and amenable to further analysis. Integral to it are a number of interrelated ways in which one{\textquoteright}s own possibilities relate to the possibilities of others; I can be my possibilities only insofar as you are yours and we are ours. In particular, I suggest that the experience of freedom presupposes a basic form of interpersonal trust.",

author = "Ratcliffe, {Matthew James}",

note = "This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher{\textquoteright}s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details",

year = "2024",

month = apr,

language = "English",

isbn = "9781032162584",

editor = "Kevin Aho and Megan Altman and Christian Pedersen",

booktitle = "Routledge Companion to Contemporary Existentialism",

publisher = "Routledge",

address = "United Kingdom",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - We are our Possibilities

T2 - From Sartre to Beauvoir to Løgstrup

AU - Ratcliffe, Matthew James

N1 - This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

PY - 2024/4

Y1 - 2024/4

N2 - This chapter develops a perspective on the phenomenology of freedom, emphasizing its dependence on a sense of relational possibilities involving other people. I draw upon and integrate themes in the works of three philosophers: Jean-Paul Sartre; Simone de Beauvoir; and Knud Ejler Løgstrup. In so doing, I propose that the experience of oneself as a free agent is not primarily a matter of how certain activities and thoughts are experienced—those that involve an elusive feeling or quale of choice or effort. Instead, it consists in a multi-faceted sense of the possible, which is inseparable from the overall structure of human experience and amenable to further analysis. Integral to it are a number of interrelated ways in which one’s own possibilities relate to the possibilities of others; I can be my possibilities only insofar as you are yours and we are ours. In particular, I suggest that the experience of freedom presupposes a basic form of interpersonal trust.

AB - This chapter develops a perspective on the phenomenology of freedom, emphasizing its dependence on a sense of relational possibilities involving other people. I draw upon and integrate themes in the works of three philosophers: Jean-Paul Sartre; Simone de Beauvoir; and Knud Ejler Løgstrup. In so doing, I propose that the experience of oneself as a free agent is not primarily a matter of how certain activities and thoughts are experienced—those that involve an elusive feeling or quale of choice or effort. Instead, it consists in a multi-faceted sense of the possible, which is inseparable from the overall structure of human experience and amenable to further analysis. Integral to it are a number of interrelated ways in which one’s own possibilities relate to the possibilities of others; I can be my possibilities only insofar as you are yours and we are ours. In particular, I suggest that the experience of freedom presupposes a basic form of interpersonal trust.

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781032162584

BT - Routledge Companion to Contemporary Existentialism

A2 - Aho, Kevin

A2 - Altman, Megan

A2 - Pedersen, Christian

PB - Routledge

ER -