Episode #157 - The Creation of Meaning - Simone De Beauvoir
The Creation of Meaning - Simone De Beauvoir
This episode explores the tension between meaninglessness and meaning-making, drawing on the ideas of Emil Cioran and Simone de Beauvoir. While Cioran confronts the absence of objective meaning with a philosophy of intellectual honesty and absurdity, de Beauvoir challenges both escapist optimism and nihilistic surrender by framing meaning as something created within the ambiguity of existence. The episode examines how existential discomfort drives both personal creativity and philosophical systems, often leading thinkers to overemphasize one side of a binary—subject or object, individual or group, freedom or limitation—at the expense of the other. De Beauvoir argues for embracing this ambiguity as the only honest ground for creating values, urging individuals to take responsibility not only for their own subjectivity but also for the freedom of others. Through this lens, the creation of meaning becomes a continuous, uncertain, but essential task of ethical existence.
Further Reading:
The Trouble with Being Born by E.M. Cioran (2013)
The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone de Beauvoir (2018)
Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build a Life That Matters by Jonathan Haidt (2025)
See the full transcript here.
Thank you to everyone who makes this podcast a possibility in the future.
I could never do this without your support! :)
