Beauvoir and Autotelic Action

 Hello Angels!

This past year of college, I took a class that discussed famous philosophers and connected their ideologies to popular films. As someone who isn't a philosophy major, but nevertheless is fascinated by the discipline, I fell in love with this course. Learning about the different ways to view life, death, and the human experience was incredibly eye-opening, and I thought I'd share some ideas that stood out to me with you all! 

Although we discussed many philosophers, ranging from Kierkegaard to Sartre, the one who's ideas I resonated most with was Beauvoir. Simone de Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher of the early-mid 1900s, who focused on concepts including femininity, community, and the ambiguity of existence. As with most philosophers, Beauvoir's works and ideas are incredibly extensive. So for the purposes of this blog post I will try keep things as concise as I can! Firstly, to understand one of Beauvoir's most fundamental ideas, one must examine the conversation between Cineas and Pyrrhus that comes from one of Beauvoir's essays.

Cineas is engaging in dialog with Pyrrhus, a powerful conquerer who discusses expanding his empire across the world. With each country he overtakes, he resolves to push forward, until everything is under his control. Upon hearing his plan, Cineas asks what Pyrrhus will do once he has finally conquered all there is to see, to which Pyrrhus says that he will finally rest. Cineas is confused, and challenges the nature Pyrrhus's goals: When everything he sets out to achieve is fulfilled, and he can finally rest at the end, why not rest now? Why waste years trying to reach an arbitrary milestone when the end result is something Pyrrhus could do immediately? 

This is the central conflict that Beauvoir unpacks: Is human action futile since it either 1) only leads to more projects, or 2) simply ends? Upon reading excerpts from Beauvoir's various essays and books, it is clear that Beauvoir strongly agrees with Pyrrhus (the conquerer) over Cineas (the skeptic), and the reason has to do with autotelic action. 

Autotelic action is essentially doing something for the sake of the action itself, rather than to fulfill a distant end goal. To better understand what it means in practice, think back to when you were a child. Did you ever spend hours building with blocks only to tear them down after, purely because you enjoyed the act of building? Or did you play a musical instrument, not because you wanted to reach a milestone, but because playing it brought you joy? Or did you draw pictures because the process was fun, not because you wanted to fill up your notebook? If any of these scenarios ring a bell, than congrats! You have engaged in autotelic action! 

As I have gotten older, I have realized that many of the activities I engage in "because I enjoy them" are actually very extrinsically motivated (driven by external factors, rather than pure enjoyment of the act itself). Things such as joining clubs at school, working out, and even my creative hobbies, are done to fulfill a future objective. Whether it be adding to my resume, reaching a specific fitness goal, or honing my skills in a specific area, the goal is what keeps me motivated, not the action. 

Additionally, once I complete a goal (for instance, graduating college), I am inevitably met with another hurdle to overcome (such as getting a job or seeking higher education). Thus continues an infinite chain of events, where one accomplishment opens the door for another undertaking. In reality, my ultimate end goal is likely the same as Pyrrhus's: After all my education is done, I get a successful career, raise a family, and retire, I too want to rest. Yet contrary to Cineas's argument, even though my end goal is achievable at any time that doesn't mean I should disregard my life plans. The act of gaining knowledge, learning how to be a functioning member of society, and simply growing up is valuable in and of itself. These are the parts of life I should learn to view as intrinsically fulfilling. 

Although being motivated by external factors is natural and unavoidable, more than ever I have been trying to engage in activities that give me a child-like sense of joy. This blog, for instance, is something I've begun working on not because I want to get a specific outcome, but because I genuinely enjoy creating it! 

Just because Pyrrhus plans to rest when his conquering is done doesn't mean he should simply do nothing at all, for doing so would lack imagination and creativity. This situation mirrors the absurdity of the human condition: We know that everyone will inevitably die, yet we are tasked with finding meaning in our lives despite our unavoidable ending. If we apply Cineas's logic to our lives, since we know that we will all meet the same fate should we just succumb to this reality and not care about what happens until then? Of course not! We should enjoy the journey of life, even if it comes to an end! 

In this regard, Beauvoir believes that we must do our best to engage in autotelic action, and relish life experiences for what they are, not for what they may bring. We should work to live passionately, ethically, and creatively. The freedom to make our own choices given the limitations of our existence is a beautiful thing, and we shouldn't waste that freedom fretting over a reality we cannot change.