1. On page 284 of The Coming of Age, Beauvoir references and criticizes the platitude. You’re only as old as you feel, or So long as you feel young you are young. In fact, the book as a whole can be understood as one sustained demolition of this line of reasoning. Explain how this is the case. Consider the following. On the other hand, the elderly are in the situation of the elderly (however they may feel about it). In part one €“ Old Age Seen From Without €“ Beauvoir identifies the various components of this situation. On the other hand, the platitude simplifies what it is like to live this situation. That is, it simplifies the lived experience or being in the world of the elderly. The Beauvoir alternative to You’re only as old as you feel might be You are old but don’t always feel it. This simple, direct sentence is in fact a complex, conceptual gesture: (a) It is the Other within us who is old, (b) Old age is assumed, (c) though real, old age cannot be realized (i.e. it belongs to the category of unrealizables)
2. Describe your relationship to the class topic before abs during your reading of The Coming of Age. Consider Beauvoir’s opposition between two ways of perceiving the elderly: there s the figure of SiIDartha and the rest of mankind. Which one best describes your own relationship to old age before reading The Coming of Age? After reading The Coming of Age? Chapter 3 was intended to increased your awareness and sensitivity to the circulation of formulaic definitions or representations of old age. Did it do so? What did you discover about your own consumption of these formulas? Chapter 4 was intended to heighten your awareness of the degree to which class mediates what it means to be old in contemporary society. To what extent did you, before reading, Beauvoir, think about issue such as the nature of work under capitalism, the nature of retirement, the economic status of the elderly, their access to health care, the problem of housing? Beauvoir’s notion of assuming old age, includes the idea of the elderly interpreting others interpreting them as old. Did this bring to mind specific encounters you have had with the elderly? Beauvoir’s analysis of being in the world includes discussion of old age and sexuality, an examination of the project relative nature of living old ages, and they way our experience of time alters over time. Did specific passages of this analysis trigger reflection?
