Beauvoir, the Public Intellectual

Abstract

The public intellectual is an endangered species even though many think there is a greater need than ever for their work. Even more urgently needed is the woman public intellectual of the stature of Simone de Beauvoir and Agnes Heller. The role of the public intellectual varies with history and culture. The horizon of the current paper is limited to Europe, especially to France in the twentieth century with a focus on its ’royal couple’, Jean Paul Sartre and Simon de Beauvoir in order to gain some insights for the current political and cultural situation in Hungary. In retrospect, the twentieth century can be seen to be the golden age of the public intellectual, especially in France, with the celebrated couple at its centre.