ABSTRACT
In this article, we will examine why Beauvoir's life and work still have such an impact on women of our times. We will see that her philosophy already encompasses all the elements of contemporary feminism, and so much so that it can even count as its paradigm. This, however, is not imme diately visible. To grasp the reasons for their continuing impact on women of our times we need to go into the philosophical backgrounds of her life and work . A different picture of Beauvoir from the usual then emerges, the usual one being that of the pur sang rationalist thinker. As she is usually seen as a follower of (the early) Sartre, she, as is he, is considered a genuine Cartesian, valuing consciousness above all, opposing bodily dimensions. 3 If one perceives any difference at all, then it is that she is more of a real Enlightenment thinker. Iris Murdoch, for instance, ranks her as a represen tative of Enlightenment optimism, the historical background being that 'she [Beauvoir] belongs to a race whose liberation can still be conceived as a proper task of Reason and one which is within its power' .4
