(Blackwell Companions to Philosophy) 1st Edition
by Laura Hengehold (Editor), Nancy Bauer (Editor)
Winner of the 2018 Choice award for Outstanding Academic Title!
The work of Simone de Beauvoir has endured and flowered in the last two decades, thanks primarily to the lasting influence of The Second Sex on the rise of academic discussions of gender, sexuality, and old age. Now, in this new Companion dedicated
to her life and writings, an international assembly of prominent
scholars, essayists, and leading interpreters reflect upon the range of
Beauvoir’s contribution to philosophy as one of the great authors,
thinkers, and public intellectuals of the twentieth century.
The Companion examines
Beauvoir’s rich intellectual life from a variety of angles—including
literary, historical, and anthropological perspectives—and situates her
in relation to her forbears and contemporaries in the philosophical
canon. Essays in each of four thematic sections reveal the breadth and
acuity of her insight, from the significance of The Second Sex
and her work on the metaphysics of gender to her plentiful contributions
in ethics and political philosophy. Later chapters trace the
relationship between Beauvoir’s philosophical and literary work and open
up her scholarship to global issues, questions of race, and the legacy
of colonialism and sexism. The volume concludes by considering her
impact on contemporary feminist thought writ large, and features
pioneering work from a new generation of Beauvoir scholars.
Ambitious and unprecedented in scope, A Companion to Simone de Beauvoir is
an accessible and interdisciplinary resource for students, teachers,
and researchers across the humanities and social sciences.
