This volume stems chiefly from a research symposiumofthe same title held in Delray Beach, Florida during May 1997 with the sponsorship of Florida Atlantic University and the Center for Advanced Research in Phenomenology, Inc.The papers from that occasionhave been revised inthe lightofcriticismbysympatheticcolleagues. Onepaperthat waspresentedhas notbeen includedandtwohavebeen added,thatoftheFullbrooks, whichwas prepared for the symposium but could not be presented, and that by Ms. Sarah Miller because life in South Floridaprevents one from forgetting old age,whichSimone deBeauvoirwasthefirstinphenomenologytodescribeat length.ProfessorToadvine'sbibliography wasavailablefromtheoutsetofthe project and was then used and praised by all. The colleagues included here and also Professor Dorothy Leland are thanked for their sympathetic participation in the symposium. Mr. Samuel Julian is thanked for the technical editing ofthis volume. Wendy O'Brien Lester Embree VB Introduction Wendy O'Brien Humber College Early studiesofthephilosophyofSimonedeBeauvoirreadherworks through the lensofeitherFeminismorExistentialism.Whilebothofthesereadingsof her writings have afforded important insights into her thought, they have at the same time overlooked the basic approachofher philosophy, resulting in claims of inconsistencies and of a lack of rigor. Feminist theorists, for example, found an importantpoliticalagendainBeauvoir'swork. However, with their focus on this elementofher writing, they tended to overlook the philosophicalunderpinningsofherreflectionsonthe livesofwomen. Read as such,Beauvoirhasbeencriticizedbyher contemporariesforthe incoherence in her work and for her failure to presentpositive role models for women in her novels, essays, and studies.

Zusammenfassung
While earlier research considered Simone de Beauvoir in the perspectives of Existentialism or Feminism, this work emphasizes her reflective and descriptive approach and the full range of issues she addresses. It provides insight into collective as well as individual human life.

Inhalt
1 The Beginnings of Beauvoir's Existential Phenomenology.- 2 Simone de Beauvoir's Existential Phenomenology and Philosophy of History in Le Deuxième Sexe.- 3 Beauvoir and Plato: The Clinic and the Cave.- 4 A Saraband of Imagery: The Uses of Biological Science in Le Deuxième Sexe.- 5 The Body as a Basis for Being: Simone de Beauvoir and Maurice Merleau-Ponty.- 6 For the Time Being: Simone de Beauvoir's Representation of Temporality.- 7 The Lived Experience of Doubling: Simone de Beauvoir's Phenomenology of Old Age.- 8 Phenomenology and the Ethical Bases of Pluralism: Arendt and Beauvoir on Race in the United States.- 9 Beauvoir as Situated Subject: The Ambiguities of Life in World War II France.- 10 Between the Ethical and the Political: The Difference of Ambiguity.- Simone de Beauvoir and Existential Phenomenology: A Bibliography.- Notes on Contributors.