Introduction

Wendy O’Brien

pp. 1-15

in: Lester Embree (ed), The existential phenomenology of Simone de Beauvoir, Berlin, Springer, 2001

Abstract

Early studies of the philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir read her works through the lens of either Feminism or Existentialism. While both of these readings of her writings have afforded important insights into her thought, they have at the same time overlooked the basic approach of her philosophy, resulting in claims of inconsistencies and of a lack of rigor. Feminist theorists, for example, found an important political agenda in Beauvoir's work. However, with their focus on this element of her writing, they tended to overlook the philosophical underpinnings of her reflections on the lives of women. Read as such, Beauvoir has been criticized by her contemporaries for the incoherence in her work and for her failure to present positive role models for women in her novels, essavs. and studies.