Does Beauvoir’s the Second Sex Give Us a Better Philosophical Understanding of the Body Than Sartre’s Being and Nothingness?

Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Being and Nothingness” and Simone De Beauvoir’s “The Second Sex” look at similar concepts such as freedom, responsibility, alienation and living an authentic life, and both approach these topics from a similar perspective . Sartre and de Beauvoir spent much of their lives romantically involved with one another and much of the philosophy found in “The Second Sex” echoes ideas which were proposed by Sartre 6 years earlier in “Being and Nothingness”. Yet just how much influence Sartre had on de Beauvoir’s thinking is a topic of heated debate; some think the influence Sartre had on her is greatly overestimated [1]while others agree with de Beauvoir’s own description of herself as being the “midwife of Sartre 's existentialism”[2] However “The Second Sex” has substantial differences in opinion to “Being and Nothingness” and the aims of the two works are radically different. “The Second Sex” is interested with the treatment and oppression of women throughout history and is a pivotal work in feminist philosophy, whereas “Being and Nothingness” sets out to give an ontological analysis of human existence and is considered as one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century. Both texts are considered as existentialist, a term which cannot be defined as a consistent philosophical “system”[3], but rather a general approach focusing on the experience of existence. Therefore existentialist works tend to focus on the human consciousness and its situation in the world, as is the case with “Being and Nothingness” and “The Second Sex”. The fact that the consciousness is embodied is a crucial part of the situation facing it, for it is through the body that the consciousness interacts and experiences the world. Both philosophers see freedom as fundamental to the nature of consciousness and both offer ideas on how embodiment affects our ability to exercise this freedom. It is these ideas that I shall focus on during the essay and I will also show

Bibliography: [1] – E. Fullerbrook & K. Fullerbrook ,2008. Sex and Philosophy – Rethinking Sartre and De Beauvoir. Continuum Publishing Group. [2] - http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/beauvoir/#SecSexWomOth (date entered aug/16/2010) [3] – H. Cohn, 1997. Existential Thought and Therapeutic Practice – An Introduction to Existenstial Psychotherapy. Sage Publications Ltd. [4] – J. Sartre, 1993. Being and Nothingness, p.621 [5] – G [6] –Lundgren-Gothlin, 1996. Sex & Existence. The Athlone Press [7]- J [8] - J. Sartre, 1993. Being and Nothingness, p.38 [9] - J [10] - J. Sartre, 1993. Being and Nothingness, p.38 [11] - J [12] - http://www.iep.utm.edu/sartre-ex/ (date entered (October/13/2004)) [13] - J [14]- J. Young, 2003. The Death of God and the Meaning of Life. Routledge [15]- S