This unique collection examines the various contradictions of freedom in Simone de Beauvoir's The Mandarins, the tumultuous epic about the personal and political lives of post-World War II French intellectuals. Fifty years after its publication, Beauvoir's book transcends the narrow confines of time and place to speak powerfully to audiences today. Contributors address political turmoil, collective responsibility, individual choice and commitment, love relationships, subjectivity, art, and freedom. With an extensive introduction that explores the historical period surrounding France after...

Despite a deep familiarity with the philosophical tradition and despite the groundbreaking influence of her own work, Simone de Beauvoir never embraced the idea of herself as a philosopher. Her legacy is similarly complicated. She is acclaimed as a revolutionary thinker on issues of gender, age, and oppression, but although much has been written weighing the influence she and Jean-Paul Sartre had on one another, the extent and sophistication of her engagement with the Western tradition broadly goes mostly unnoticed. This volume turns the spotlight on exactly that, examining Beauvoir's...