2004
Volume 117, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 0002-5275
  • E-ISSN: 2352-1244

Abstract

Abstract

In the light of increasing appeals to consider meaningful ageing as a societal rather than a personal issue, both in public discourse and in academia, this paper discusses how De Beauvoir recasts life in society through the prism of ageing. I argue that De Beauvoir herewith provides an important corrective to tendencies to ‘under-socialize’ or ‘over-socialize’ meaning in later life. These tendencies can be traced back to the traditional conceptualization of old age as decline but also play out in recent critical phenomenologies of ageing. Through a critical discussion of the problems hereof, I elucidate how we can address these problems by articulating with De Beauvoir the grey area between ageing and life in society. By juxtaposing De Beauvoir with Arendt, I flesh out the implications for the politics of meaningful ageing.

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2025-06-01
2025-07-05
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