Sartres Influence On De Beauvoir's Work

A place where Sartre’s influence on de Beauvoir’s work is commonly analyzed is in the similarities between Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, and de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. Both philosophers were existentialist atheists and had several perspectives in common. However, they had their disagreements as well. Sartre believed in the idea of essence, which for some objects and nonrational beings, it is already determined. Humans, however, do not have a determined essence. Unlike objects, humans have their own autonomy and the freedom to make choices regardless of the consequences. Deciding not to make a choice is a choice of its own. These decisions that we make have an impact on whether we are the “observer” or the “observed.” Sartre goes on to make the further distinction that if one is the observed, then they have several parts. Initially, there was only the being-in-itself and the being-for-itself. Being-in-itself refers to being in the same way that other objects exist. They are simply there because they exist. Being-for-itself refers to the consciousness and rationality shared by all humans. As humans, we are capable of being aware of our own selves. Later on, …show more content…
Each human For-itself will inevitably objectify the Other in a relationship, and that Other is its own being-for-itself that is doing the same thing. This is because we as humans all determine ourselves as our own beings. By doing this, we assign roles to other people and thereby try to make them fit regardless of how they try to assert themselves as their own subjects. In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir observes woman’s subordination to man and how women have come to internalize their place in society. She discusses how women attained their status as the inferior and the observed, the Other. While she insists upon there being a difference between the sexes, she states that there should absolutely be equality between