What Is Existentialism?

What Is Existentialism?

About the Book

The groundbreaking writings on the philosophy of the individual by iconic feminist and social thinker, Simone de Beauvoir

How should we think and act in the world? These writings on the human condition by one of the twentieth century's great philosophers explore the absurdity of our notions of good and evil, and show instead how we make our own destiny simply by being.

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives--and upended them. Now Penguin brings you a new set of the acclaimed Great Ideas, a curated library of selections from the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
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Penguin Great Ideas Series

The Decay of Lying
Brief Notes on the Art and Manner of Arranging One's Books
How to Be a Stoic
What Is Existentialism?
One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer
Three Japanese Buddhist Monks
Anarchist Communism
God Is Dead. God Remains Dead. And We Have Killed Him.
Bushido
Ain't I a Woman?
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About the Author

Simone De Beauvoir
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR was born in Paris in 1908. In 1929 she became the youngest person ever to obtain the agrégation in philosophy at the Sorbonne, placing second on the exam to Jean-Paul Sartre. de Beauvoir taught at lycées in Marseille and Rouen from 1931 to 1937, and in Paris from 1938 to 1943. After World War II, she emerged as one of the leaders of the existentialist movement, working with Sartre on Les Temps modernes. The author of many acclaimed works, de Beauvoir was one of the most influential thinkers of her generation. She died in 1986. More by Simone De Beauvoir
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About the Author

Marybeth Timmermann
SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR was born in Paris in 1908. In 1929 she became the youngest person ever to obtain the agrégation in philosophy at the Sorbonne, placing second on the exam to Jean-Paul Sartre. de Beauvoir taught at lycées in Marseille and Rouen from 1931 to 1937, and in Paris from 1938 to 1943. After World War II, she emerged as one of the leaders of the existentialist movement, working with Sartre on Les Temps modernes. The author of many acclaimed works, de Beauvoir was one of the most influential thinkers of her generation. She died in 1986. More by Marybeth Timmermann
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