Beauvoir and Western Thought from Plato to Butler

Shannon M. Mussett is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Utah Valley University. She is the coeditor (with Sally J. Scholz) of The Contradictions of Freedom: Philosophical Essays on Simone de Beauvoir's The Mandarins, also published by SUNY Press. William S. Wilkerson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is the author of Ambiguity and Sexuality: A Theory of Sexual Identity and the coeditor (with Jeffrey Paris) of New Critical Theory: Essays on Liberation.

"…these essays not only broaden our understanding of Beauvoir's philosophical work but also suggest new ways in which we can approach some of the best-known philosophers through her work; the essays are not restricted to addressing influence but further the analysis of other philosophers treated in the volume … it is a breath of fresh air in the study of Beauvoir's thought." — Marx and Philosophy Review of Books"This is an excellent addition to modern-day philosophical thought." — Portland Book Review"This book will correct missteps in Beauvoir's interpretation, especially with respect to her relation to phenomenologists. The chief strength of the volume, though, is that most of the contributors do not restrict themselves to addressing the question of influence, but rather venture to analyze and assess the philosophical proposals found both in Beauvoir's work and in the work of the other philosophers treated in this volume." — Mary Beth Mader, author of Sleights of Reason: Norm, Bisexuality, Development

• Authors’ Introduction1. The Literary Grounding of Metaphysics: Beauvoir and Plato on Philosophical FictionShannon M. Mussett2. Existence, Freedom, and the Festival: Roussea and BeauvoirSally Scholz3. A Different Kind of Universality: Beauvoir and Kant on Universal EthicsWilliam Wilkerson4. Simone de Beauvoir and the Marquis de Sade: Contesting the Logic of Sovereignty and the Politics of Terror and RapeDebra Bergoffen5. Beauvoir and MarxWilliam McBride6. Saving Time: Temporality, Recurrence, and Transcendence in Beauvoir’s Nietzchean CyclesElaine P. Miller7. Beauvoir and  Husserl: An Unorthodox Approach to The Second SexSara Heinämaa8. Beauvoir and Bergson – A Question of InfluenceMargaret A. Simons9. Beauvoir and Merleau-Ponty: Philosophers of AmbiguityGail Weiss10. From Beauvoir to Irigaray: Making Meaning out of MaternityErin McCarthy11. Ambiguity and Precarious Life: Tracing Beauvoir’s Legacy in the Work of Judith ButlerAnn V. Murphy12. True Philosophers: Beauvoir and bellbell hooksContributorsIndex