The Cambridge Companion to Simone de Beauvoir

by Claudia Card (Editor)

Simone de Beauvoir was a philosopher and writer of notable range and influence whose work is central to feminist theory, French existentialism, and contemporary moral and social philosophy. The essays in this volume examine the major aspects of her thought. They explore her views on the role of biology, sexuality and sexual difference, and evil; the influence on her work of Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Husserl, and others; and the philosophical significance of her memoirs and fiction.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Feminism, History

362 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2003

About the author

Claudia Falconer Card (September 30, 1940 – September 12, 2015) was the Emma Goldman (WARF) Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with teaching affiliations in Women's Studies, Jewish Studies, Environmental Studies, and LGBT Studies.

She earned her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1962) and her M.A. (1964) and Ph.D. (1969) from Harvard University, where she wrote her dissertation under the direction of John Rawls.

Card joined the faculty in the philosophy department at Wisconsin straight from her Harvard studies. She has held visiting professorships at The Goethe Institute (Frankfurt, Germany), Dartmouth College (Hanover NH), and the University of Pittsburgh. She has written four treatises, edited or co-edited six books, and published nearly 150 articles and reviews. She has delivered nearly 250 papers at conferences, colleges, and universities and has been featured in 29 radio broadcasts. She delivered the John Dewey Lecture to the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association (APA) in 2008. In April 2011 Card became the President of the APA's Central Division. Her Presidential Address was "Surviving Long-Term Mass Atrocities: U-Boats, Catchers, and Ravens". In 2013, she was invited to deliver the Paul Carus Lectures, a series of three lectures delivered to the APA; these will be delivered at the Central Division in 2016.

In 2011, Card was awarded the University of Wisconsin's Hilldale Award for excellence in teaching, research and service. In nominating her for this award, her department chair, Russ Shafer-Landau, said, "Her books and articles have become as essential to feminist thinking as Das Capital is to labor theory. You simply can't do feminism without reading Card, and even if you don't read Card, today's feminism bears her mark so deeply that you may not even realize that you have in some other way digested her theoretical perspectives."

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Burcu · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the good aspects of this "companion to de Beauvoir" is that the essays focus on a broad range of her work, not just on the feminist writings. From Existentialism to her intellectual relation to philosophers such as Sartre, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, it has a good range for an overview.

For Reference purposes, here's the TOC:

Introduction by claudia card
1 Beauvoir’s place in philosophical thought - barbara s. andrew
2 Reading Simone de Beauvoir with Martin Heidegger - eva gothlin
3 The body as instrument and as expression - sara heina¨maa
4 Beauvoir andMerleau-Ponty on ambiguity - monika langer
5 Bergson’s influence on Beauvoir’s philosophical methodology - margaret a. simons
6 Philosophy in Beauvoir’s fiction - mary sirridge
7 Complicity andslaver y in The Second Sex - susan james
8 Beauvoir on Sade: making sexuality into an ethic - judith butler
9 Beauvoir andfeminism: interview andref lections - susan j. brison
10 Life-story in Beauvoir’s memoirs - miranda fricker
11 Beauvoir on the ambiguity of evil - robin may schott
12 Simone de Beauvoir: (Re)counting the sexual difference - debra b. bergoffen
13 Beauvoir andbiology: a secondlook - moira gatens
14 Beauvoir’s Old Age - penelope deutscher

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic work of scholarship. The contributions are varied, well written, and well argued. An invaluable resource.

[DOLLY · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much awesome writing.

[Misarweth]

avec en invitée très spéciale : Judith Butler (sur Beauvoir et Sade) !
L'intérêt de ce compagnon de cerveau est peut-être par rapport à la vision de la femme vu la tradition des gender studies qui éclaire d'un jour différent certaines idées que nous rabachons sur le Deuxième Sexe et autres.
Alléchant.

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

250417: collection of essays. some very good, some less, all interesting on major voice of feminist philosophy. note: listed here (2003) are two (2) other cambridge companions on women (arendt, general topic) and thirty-six (36) on male philosophers...