Studies of Simone de Beauvoir have mostly concentrated on her literature, her life, and her famous 1949 work, The Second Sex, and the continued emphasis has been on Beauvoir s views on gender. The Philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir places her theory of women s otherness in the context of a number of contemporary theories on a similar subject. While gender takes its place among these, Professor Deutscher counterbalances its grip on our memory of Beauvoir s ideas by situating it in the context of our relationship to ageing, to generational difference, and to race and cultural difference. By...

An idiosyncratic and highly controversial French philosopher, Jacques Derrida inspired profound changes in disciplines as diverse as law, anthropology, literature and architecture. In Derrida's view, texts and contexts are woven with inconsistencies and blindspots, which provide us with a chance to think in new ways about, among other things, language, community, identity and forgiveness. Derrida's suggestions for "how to read" lead to a new vision of ethics and a new concept of responsibility. Penelope Deutscher discusses extracts from the full range of Derrida's work, including. Of...