Knowra Simone de Beauvoir Simone de Beauvoir Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) was a French existentialist philosopher and writer whose work examined freedom, oppression, gender, and social responsibility. Her books include The Second Sex and the novel The Mandarins .
Jean-Paul Sartre : French existentialist philosopher, playwright, and novelist whose work centers on freedom and responsibility. Her lifelong intellectual partnership with Sartre included dialogue, collaboration, and disagreement.
Existentialism : A philosophical movement emphasizing existence, freedom, responsibility, and the situated character of human life. Beauvoir used existentialist ideas to analyze how social conditions shape freedom.
The Second Sex : Beauvoir’s 1949 study of women’s historical, social, and existential situation. This major work applies existentialist analysis to women’s oppression and social formation.
École Normale Supérieure : A French higher-education institution that trains scholars and teachers, especially in the humanities and sciences. Beauvoir studied philosophy there and met Sartre in its intellectual circles.
Second-wave feminism : A feminist movement, especially prominent from the 1960s through the 1980s, focused on structural inequalities in social and private life. The Second Sex became a foundational reference for many activists and theorists in this movement.
Claude Lanzmann : French filmmaker and journalist known for the documentary Shoah . Lanzmann was Beauvoir’s partner in her later years and edited the journal Les Temps modernes with her.
Ambiguity : The condition of human existence as both embodied fact and open-ended possibility. Her ethics treats this tension as the starting point for responsible action.
The Ethics of Ambiguity : Beauvoir’s 1947 essay on freedom, responsibility, and ethical action under conditions of human ambiguity. It sets out the ethical framework behind her political opposition to oppression.
Agrégation de philosophie : A highly competitive French examination qualifying candidates to teach philosophy in secondary schools and higher education. Beauvoir passed it in 1929, ranking second behind Sartre.
Feminist existentialism : An approach combining existentialist accounts of freedom and situation with analysis of gendered oppression. Beauvoir’s work is a central source for this philosophical tradition.
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