THE SECOND SEX OR EXISTENTIALIST PHILOSOPHY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

• Main Author: Lejla Osmanović
• Format: Article
• Language: Bosnian
• Published: University of Tuzla, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 2020-07-01
• Series: Društvene i Humanističke Studije
• Subjects: the second sex; feminism; existentialism; freedom; situation
• Online Access: http://www.dhs.ff.untz.ba/index.php/home/article/view/415

For a long time, the first and perhaps the only association coming to a mind at the mention of the philosopher, writer and feminist theorist Simone de Beauvoir has been her essay The Second Sex, one of the foundational texts of modern feminist thought, published seventy years ago. However, the author’s previously articulated feminist beliefs did not influence the emergence of The Second Sex. Essentially, her essay is based on the concepts of Sartre’s existentialist philosophy that have allowed Simone de Beauvoir to formulate some of the most progressive views of feminist theory. This paper presents the most important philosophical concepts from which originated the Second Sex with a special reference to a method in which the author overcame, adapted and changed the limits imposed by the postulates of the universalist philosophy, profoundly insensitive to any gender differentiation / issues/ to the question of gender. Through the changes that needed to be included in her philosophy for purpose of analyzing the causes of female inferiority in society, Simone de Beauvoir stepped away from Sartre’s views, showing, without a conscious intention, the originality of her own philosophy.