Abstract universalism fails because every human being is uniquely situated

Evidence

But nominalism is a doctrine that falls a bit short; and it is easy for antifeminists to show that women are not men. Certainly woman like man is a human being; but such an assertion is abstract; the fact is that every concrete human being is always uniquely situated. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 51

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces ‘situation’ as the operative existentialist concept that grounds Beauvoir’s feminism against mere nominalism.
• XREF: Connects to later existentialist theory of the situated subject (Merleau-Ponty, Sartre), and to critiques of abstract liberal universalism. — connects to: True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 187; Individual uniqueness as a value denies equality rather than grounds it — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 690; Readings that efface subjectivity to reach universality are actually particular and arbitrary — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 1230 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness #corroborates (0.90) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 187
• Readings that efface subjectivity to reach universality are actually particular and arbitrary #corroborates (0.85) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1230
• A unified human We-subject is impossible; conflict grounds being-for-others #corroborates (0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1041
• Individual uniqueness as a value denies equality rather than grounds it #complicates (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 690
• Theoretical universalizations can recuperate difference into old Enlightenment universalist frameworks #qualifies (0.75) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 409