Alteridade e reciprocidade no pensamento existencialista de Simone de Beauvoir e o projeto de libertação das mulheres

Abstract

This research aims to present and analyze the concepts of Alterity and Reciprocity, as discussed in Simone de Beauvoir's philosophy, highlighting the works The Second Sex and For a Morality of Ambiguity. We will see the philosophical implications of the terms Alterity and Reciprocity to understand the situation of subjugation of women in human history and in the elaboration of an Existentialist Ethics that supports a project for the liberation of women defended by the philosopher. In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir seeks to understand what Being a Woman is and seeks to identify the reasons that led to the establishment of a hierarchy of power in human societies, where women are oppressed by men and seen as inferior To men, women are like an "Other" in a negative sense, for which reciprocity is not recognized. The duality of the relationship between me and the Other is something that accompanies human history, but alterity carries the possibility of reciprocity. However, this reciprocity for Women is not recognized. Beauvoir argues that the subordination of women is a historical event, it is not only due to biological issues, but it has roots in the human subject's ontological condition in the world and its choices in relation to what society and culture offer. With the affirmation of patriarchy at a certain historical moment, man becomes the center of reference for defining what the human species should be, while the woman is classified as alterity in a negative sense compared to the male figure, this was chosen by men and had no justification in nature or in any supposed divine truth or "human essence." We will see how Beauvoir interprets the situation of women, dialoguing with different currents of thought: from Sociology / Anthropology, Psychoanalysis, Dialectical Historical Materialism, and the Existentialism itself of which the philosopher was an exponent. A historical account by Beauvoir in The Second Sex is presented to illustrate the analysis carried out, denouncing the oppression against women. Following the observations on historiographic data, we will see the proposal for an Existentialist Ethics based on the recognition of ambiguity in human life, highlighting freedom and aiming to achieve reciprocity. The Existentialist Ethics defended by Beauvoir culminates in a project of liberation for women that is connected to a concern for the realization of equality in the human collectivity, in an attempt to approximate the ideals of Marxist Socialism and Existentialism.