In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes describes that humans living in the natural condition are devoid of freedom. He states that freedom is simply the absence of an external obstacle, something that prevents one from pursuing one's desires. In the natural state of man, each individual fights for himself, living without political authority. Hobbes believes that the only way to achieve true freedom is under the power of a sovereign. Alternatively, in The Ethics of Ambiguity, Simone de Beauvoir illustrates how everyone is essentially free. It states that human beings are continually free to decide how to deal with facticity (immutable facts about ourselves). People are free to choose what attitudes to adopt in life. De Beauvoir also discusses how people deny their freedoms as four forms of self-deception. The fundamental difference between Hobbes's and de Beauvoir's perceptions of freedom is the fact that Hobbes focuses on the freedom of the many while de Beauvoir focuses on the freedom of the individual. De Beauvoir fails to distinguish how particular situations do not allow freedom, and is also contradictory in her statements; so Hobbes's view should be accepted. Hobbes discusses the natural condition in which every man can be free to do what he wishes; every man is the same. However, because of this, no one is free to have what they want. Total freedom is an absolute lack of freedom. Whereas there is no political authority in the natural condition, there is no order, and therefore there is unconditional chaos as life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Hobbes 76). Every man exists exclusively to pursue his own personal desires, but in the natural condition it is impossible for everyone to completely pursue this...... middle of paper... in the natural condition, human beings are indeed prisoners of their own desires (58) and who are "imprisoned or held back with walls or chains" (136) and can only free themselves when they use reason to look beyond their passions and towards what really matters, freedom and peace. In conclusion, the Hobbesian vision of freedom includes the presence of a political authority, a sovereign who will provide an escape from the natural condition. He states that freedom is simply the absence of an external obstacle. De Beauvoir believes that everyone is essentially free to decide how to face reality and that the critical effort in life should be to strive for freedom. Hobbes' perspective on freedom in society overshadows de Beauvoir's attempt to describe the freedom of the individual due to his controversial claims and the absence of solutions to the problems he presents.