Simone de Beauvoir, Philosophy, & FeminismIn the introduction to The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir notes that "a man never begins by establishing himself as an individual of a certain sex: his being a man poses no problem." Nancy Bauer begins her book by asking: "Then what kind of a problem does being a woman pose?" Bauer's aim is to show that in answering this question The Second Sex dramatizes the extent to which being a woman poses a philosophical problem. This book is a call for philosophers as well as feminists to turn, or return to, The Second Sex. Bauer shows that Beauvoir's magnum opus, written a quarter-century before the development of contemporary feminist philosophy, constitutes a meditation on the relationship between women and philosophy that remains profoundly undervalued. She argues that the extraordinary effect The Second Sex has had on women's lives, then and now, can be traced to Beauvoir's discovery of a new way to philosophize--a way grounded in her identity as a woman. In offering a new interpretation of The Second Sex, Bauer shows how philosophy can be politically productive for women while remaining genuinely philosophical. |
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achieve alienation appropriation of Hegel argue attempt bad faith Beau Beauvoir claims Beauvoir's appropriation Beauvoir's philosophical Beauvoir's view being-for-itself Bergoffen Bordo Cartesian chapter concept consciousness course critics Descartes Descartes's desire Doeuff English translation Epimenides essay essential Ethics of Ambiguity example existence existential existentialist ethics experience fact female feminine feminism feminist philosophy for-itself freedom Freud fundamental Garcin gender genuinely Hegelian human Husserl idea identify implies in-itself insofar Jean-Paul Sartre least Lundgren-Gothlin male master master-slave dialectic means Meditations metaphysical moral narcissism Nothingness object one's oneself oppression Other's Look passage person Phenomenology Phenomenology of Spirit philosophical skepticism pose Pyrrhus et Cinéas question reading recognize relationship risk Rorty Sartre Sartrean Second Sex self-consciousness sense sexism Simone de Beauvoir situation skepticism slave specifically struggle subjectively self-certain suggest thing tion Toril Moi transcendence truth understanding voir voir's what's woman women words writing