Jacob Wheeler

Jacob Wheeler

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Questions on Beauvoir

While reading this latest section, I had a few minor (not deserving of a slap) questions on Beauvoir, her practices, and her beliefs.

1.) I have been assuming that the use of the gender specificity, which predominates this work, has been, to some degree, and artifact of the translation. It has become apparent, though, that she does sometimes use the pronoun to speak of, as would be expected of such a work and its topic, the male sex generally. There are also sentences that would seem to hint that the use of 'men' in that particular instance is intended to refer to all of humanity. Now, should I be reading the pronouns and noun very specifically, that is, that she is using 'he' and 'his' and 'men' only when referring to men? Or, is there some alternative way of reading Beauvoir that will afford me the luxury of knowing when she is speaking of men and when of people in general? This is not a criticism; I find, though, the answer to this is essential for understanding.

2.) Beauvoir, in the first chapter of section three, mentions the 'genesis myth'. I am left wondering what her religious views are. Does she believe in god? If so, does she identify with a particular religion? If so, which one? I know she is a dominant figure of existentialism, and despite some charges to the contrary, I do not believe that entails an ontological view of god. This one is less essential for understanding but a curiosity nonetheless.

2 comments:

  1. French and English structurally share the ancient presumption that men are the human norm and women a variant, so false generics abound in both languages. Most of the time one must discern from context whether the author intends a term like 'man' or 'homme' to indicate humanity or just males. As you notice, however, this gets particularly difficult on pp. 159-60.

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  2. I too was interested in her specific feelings on religion, and being the intelligent person she seems to have been I feel that she could separate the male dominated institution of the church from its core principles. However it seems just as possible that she would be turned off from religion based on her own experiences with the church as a woman, so again I too am interested in her opinion on god and the role of faith.

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