Biological facts only matter through the concrete value they have in action

Evidence

Thus woman cannot simply be considered a sexed organism: among biological data, only those with concrete value in action have any importance; woman’s consciousness of herself is not defined by her sexuality alone: it reflects a situation that depends on society’s economic structure, a structure that indicates the degree of technical evolution humanity has attained. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 142

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the pivotal concept of ‘situation’ — biological data matter only as they register in a social-economic context.
• XREF: Central to the existentialist-feminist analytical apparatus; connects to Sartre’s situation and anticipates later standpoint theory. — connects to: Biology only matters to psychology through the lived, meaningful body — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 119; Facts only become meaningful through pre-existing conceptual criteria of choice — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1637; Biology and abstract reason never united humans; concrete thought did (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Biology only matters to psychology through the lived, meaningful body #expands (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 119
• Facts only become meaningful through pre-existing conceptual criteria of choice #corroborates (0.85) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1637
• Facts are only selected for enquiry against a pre-existing conceptual criterion #corroborates (0.85)
• Biology and abstract reason never united humans; concrete thought did #expands (0.80)
• Knowledge and objectivity are only knowable in relation to humanity #expands (0.75)