Essence

For Beauvoir, man has no essence or nature save that she gives to herself.

Value

Value is subjective for Beauvoir and comes from human valuation.

Human Existence

Human existence is a paradoxical tension between the internal drive to supplant one's being and the restraints of the world.

Oppression

The state of man when his freedom is restricted and his development stunted by the deliberate manipulation of others.

Seriousness

The state of men who adopt external absolutes and attempt to impose them on others. The serious man must always be resisted in the name of freedom.

Spontaneity

The opposite of seriousness. The spontaneous man locates value within himself.

Absolutes

Categorical, unbreakable sources of value. Men can choose their absolutes, be it God, money or self and freedom.

The Concrete

The concrete is opposed to the abstract and universal. Beauvoir sees reality as the concrete and particular in experience...