ABSTRACT
What, if anything, could Simone de Beauvoir contribute to a philosophy of emotions? At first glance, emotions don’t play an important role in her philosophy. She never explicitly formulated the role of emotions in either her existentialist ethics or feminist thought; neither can one find detailed descriptions of specific emotions or a systematic evaluation of the role of affectivity in general. Nonetheless, emotions in terms of affectivity and feelings are at the heart of her existential thinking. Without a fundamental bodily sensitivity, no engagement with the world or others would be possible; without passion, joy and fear, as primary feelings of the human condition, there would be neither freedom nor violence and domination.
