<P> "Ambiguity and Freedom," lays out the philosophical underpinnings of de Beauvoir's stance on ethics . She asserts that "man" (meaning human beings generally) is fundamentally free, a freedom that comes from his "nothingness," which is an essential aspect of his ability to be self - aware, to be conscious of himself: "...the nothingness which is at the heart of man is also the consciousness that he has of himself ." But man is also a thing, a "facticity," an object for others . The ambiguity is that each of us is both subject and object, freedom and facticity . As free, we have the ability to take note of ourselves and choose what to do . As factic, we are constrained by physical limits, social barriers and the expectations and political power of others . </P> <P> De Beauvoir rejects any notion of an absolute goodness or moral imperative that exists on its own . "...there exists no absolute value before the passion of man, outside of it, in relation to which one might distinguish the useless from the useful ." Values come only from our choices . </P> <P> Human freedom can be only in concrete projects, not in the abstract . Freedom "requires the realization of concrete ends, of particular projects ." </P> <P> The types of particular content that are suitable are discussed in Part III . </P>

How does childhood figure in to our ethical formation according to beauvoir