The Philosophical Foundations of The Second Sex

Abstract

Part of the argument of this book is that The Second Sex is a philosophical as well as a feminist work. The purpose of the present chapter is to document, with as much precision as possible, what that philosophical structure or content actually is. My approach shall be as follows: the preceding chapters have shown, I hope, that Simone de Beauvoir had already published a substantial amount of philosophy before she wrote and published The Second Sex. I shall therefore begin with a summary of what her philosophical thoughts to date have been. I shall then ask: Which of these philosophical thoughts which predate The Second Sex reappear in it, and what new, that is, hitherto unpublished, ideas does it contain? In this way I hope to establish, not merely that The Second Sex is a philosophical work, but, further, that it has an assignable place in the itinerary of de Beauvoir’s philosophical thinking.