Sartre and Beauvoir deliberately lived their philosophy of freedom in their relationship

Evidence

For Sartre and Beauvoir, their open relationship was more than a personal arrangement; it was a philosophical choice. They wanted to live their theory of freedom. The bourgeois model of marriage had no appeal for them, with its strict gender roles, its hushed-up infidelities, and its dedication to the accumulation of property and children. They had no children, they owned little, and they never even lived together, although they put their relationship before all others and met almost every day to work side by side. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 50

It was also an extremely long relationship, lasting from 1929 to Sartre’s death in 1980. For fifty years, it was a philosophical demonstration of existentialism in practice, defined by the two principles of freedom and companionship. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 394

Categorization

• XREF: Connects existentialist freedom-as-lived-practice to the later ‘bad faith’ concept — the opposite of living authentic commitment. Also resonates with the reader’s interest in how theory becomes biography. — connects to: Both Beauvoir and Sartre derived their philosophical theories from lived love affairs — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 141; Sartre and Beauvoir formalized honesty and primacy rules for their open relationship — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 383; Beauvoir shaped Sartre’s fiction by pushing him toward plot and suspense — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 353 (+5 more)
• DEFINE: Casts the couple’s lived relationship as a working demonstration of existentialist principles — freedom and companionship.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 50; Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 394

Broader Connections

• Sartre and Beauvoir formalized honesty and primacy rules for their open relationship #exemplifies (0.90) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 383
• Both Beauvoir and Sartre derived their philosophical theories from lived love affairs #expands (0.82) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 141
• Beauvoir shaped Sartre’s fiction by pushing him toward plot and suspense #expands (0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 353