Ambiguity in Revolutionary Praxis: Simone de Beauvoir’s Ethics and the "Woman, Life, Freedom" Movement of Iran

Öz

This paper examines the Iranian women’s revolutionary revolt of 2022-2026, which is popularly known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” (Zan, Zendegi, Azadî) movement, through Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics, primarily following her works Ethics of Ambiguity (1947) and The Second Sex (1949). I argue that Iranian women’s uprising takes up and actualizes Beauvoir’s central ethical claims regarding ambiguity being the fundamental human condition, intersubjective dimension of freedom, and the moral imperative of collective liberation. By investigating how Iranian women’s resistance demonstrates the crucial distinction between ontological freedom and practical freedom, I present that Beauvoir’s phenomenological insight on the situatedness and its intimate relation to freedom provides an essential framework for understanding the philosophical significance of this revolutionary feminist movement. The paper exposes how the Islamic Republic of Iran exemplifies what Beauvoir terms as “mystified” oppression and analyzes the philosophical dimensions of Iranian women and men’s collective uprising as a concrete enactment of Beauvoirian ethics. Through this analysis I demonstrate that the movement vindicates Beauvoir’s foundational thesis: to will oneself free is to will everyone else free.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Simone de Beauvoir
• Iranian women’s movement
• “Woman Life Freedom”
• existentialist ethics
• feminist phenomenology

Devrimsel Praksiste Belirsizlik: Simone de Beauvoir’ın Etiği ve İran’daki “Kadın, Yaşam, Özgürlük” Hareketi

Öz

Bu makale, yaygın olarak “Kadın, Yaşam, Özgürlük” (Zan, Zendegi, Azadî) hareketi olarak bilinen 2022-2026 İranlı kadınların devrimci isyanını, başta Belirsizlik Etiği (1947) ve İkinci Cinsiyet (1949) olmak üzere Simone de Beauvoir’ın varoluşçu etiği üzerinden incelemektedir. İranlı kadınların ayaklanması, belirsizliğin temel insani koşul olduğunu, özgürlüğün özneler-arası boyutunu ve kolektif kurtuluşun ahlaki zorunluluğu yönündeki Beauvoircı temel etik iddiaları yalnız üstlenmekle kalmayıp somutlaştırıyor. İranlı kadınların direnişinin ontolojik özgürlük ile pratik özgürlük arasındaki hayati ayrımı nasıl ortaya koyduğunu araştırarak, Beauvoir’ın durumsallığa ilişkin fenomenolojik kavrayışının ve bunun özgürlükle olan yakın ilişkisinin, bu devrimci feminist hareketin felsefi önemini anlamak için temel bir çerçeve sunduğunu ileri sürüyor. Makale, İran İslam Cumhuriyeti’nin Beauvoir’ın “mistifiye edilmiş” baskı olarak adlandırdığı durumu nasıl örneklediğini açığa çıkararak, İranlı kadınlar ile erkeklerin kolektif ayaklanmasının felsefi boyutlarını, Beauvoircı etiğin somut bir icrası olarak analiz ediyor. Bu analiz aracılığıyla, hareketin Beauvoir’ın kurucu tezini doğruladığını gösteriyor: kendini özgür kılmayı istemek, herkesin özgür olmasını istemektir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Simone de Beauvoir
• İran kadın hareketi
• “Kadın Yaşam Özgürlük”
• varoluşçu etik
• feminist fenomenoloji

Kaynakça

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