Tag Archives: Simone de Beauvoir

Bad Faith at Sartre’s Cafe

Bad Faith at Sartre’s Café It may be of interest to note that post-World War II feminism (the “second wave”) was written-into-being by Simone de Beauvoir, a gifted French philosopher, in The Second Sex (1949).  It was conscientiously researched and … Continue reading

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Can a Philosopher Be a Novelist?

Can a Philosopher Be a Novelist? These days I’ve been working on a paper to be delivered (in no more than 15 minutes) at the September (virtual) Meetings of the Eric Voegelin Society.  Cutting it down while still retaining meaningful … Continue reading

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The Personal Meets the Political

The Personal Meets the Political I’m still reading A Dangerous Liaison, the book by Carole Seymour-Jones, about the great twentieth-century power couple, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.  In my previous blog on them, I focused on the inconsistency between … Continue reading

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Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir

Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir Talk about a Power Couple!  He is responsible for the 20th-century French Existentialist claims that life is absurd, God nonexistent, we create our identities and the values we give to our projects. And she? … Continue reading

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A Good Look at Evil

A Good Look at Evil Last Friday the galley proofs arrived for the new edition of my book, A Good Look at Evil. When the first edition came out, decades back, Temple University Press nominated it for a Pulitzer prize. … Continue reading

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“Chivalry”

Chivalry John Adams, who was the second president of the United States, wrote: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” At present, the people of the … Continue reading

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“The Delicacy of Women”

The Delicacy of Women There is a scene in Sartre’s magnum opus, Being and Nothingness, the book by which he influenced several generations of young people who wanted to be numbered among the existentialists. A man and a woman are … Continue reading

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“Intellectual Women”

“Intellectual Women”  Ugh. What a subject! I guess I’m one, but it doesn’t sound like a fun topic. In college, I had hesitated before deciding to major in philosophy. Would it look mannish? Would eligible bachelors be put off? When … Continue reading

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“Kid Stuff”

Illustration by Kurt Wiese in  All The Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling “Kid Stuff”  In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir writes that women often preface a remark or opinion by saying, “when I was a little girl,” when what … Continue reading

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“Masculinity”

 1899 | “Berth deck cooks aboard cruiser U.S.S. Brooklyn” | Edward H. Hart “Masculinity” Any woman still maintaining that the terms “masculinity” and “femininity” should be put between scare quotes, as mere social or grammatical constructs, is invited to walk … Continue reading

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