The proximity of the couple makes disentangling their mutual influence nearly impossible

Evidence

Because they were so close and because they did the same kind of work, it is sometimes diffi cult to establish how each developed his or her own thought. Can one talk of a Sartrean philosophy completely devoid of Beauvoir’s infl uence? And likewise, is a Beauvoirian philosophy conceivable without Sartre’s infl uence? One may be tempted to ask whether paying attention to this question is not distracting us from more important philosophical issues and whether it really matters. Aft er all, it is always diffi cult to disentangle the web of infl uences that are at play in a philosopher’s intricate thinking. — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 43

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: how do historiographers actually attribute influence when two thinkers co-work this closely? What evidence bases are used?
• XREF: connects to: Marriage promises a shared refuge but leaves both spouses alone — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1277