Simone de Beauvoir’s freedom philosophy and its implications for education

• Main Authors: Hsiao-Ying Chi, 紀曉瑩
• Other Authors: Kang Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/bku7ua

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 教育與潛能開發學系 === 107 === This study aims to explore the revelation in education from the concept of freedom by Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) and generalize some key points to apply to parenting through a hermeneutic understanding of de Beauvoir’s life experience and philosophical discourse along with the researcher’s self-narrative. First of all, de Beauvoir’s family background and her experience as a student are analyzed and interpreted to understand the relationship between her life experience and her concept of freedom, which is influenced by her parents’ parenting styles, her friends, and her love affairs. Secondly, the meaning of de Beauvoir’s concept of freedom is explained, indicating the influence of the culture and situation contexts that different sexes would face during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Then, the elaboration of de Beauvoir’s six personality types—the sub-man, the serious man, the nihilist man, the adventurer, the passionate man, and the free man—and their status and relationships when facing freedom, suggests that freedom is both a choice of lifestyle and the ultimate practice of life’s value and moral meaning. And it is only with economic independence and the understanding of situation that one can achieve true freedom. Furthermore, by examining de Beauvoir’s concept of freedom as exhibited in the interacting experience with the researcher’s mother, husband, and children, the influence of the researcher’s life experience and its application to and reflection on parenting are discussed. The first is how to see the boundary of freedom from relationships and give a child more possibilities to see freedom; the second, the necessity for a caretaker to reflect on the oppression of power relations as resulting from violence; the third, how to find the transforming power from one’s life experience; and the fourth, the understanding of the sense and meaning of existence from the interaction with others through understanding personalities and also the discussion of the adaptive development in a caretaker’s gender-role parenting when facing the uniqueness of a child. Finally, it is advised that a school may provide its students with the ability to see their own situations and to face oppression so as to create an environment to learn freedom. As for new parents, it is important to replace violence with understanding, improve the self-care function, and often communicate with the child. In addition, suggestions for future research are also included.