Nadia’s Case Revisited
Studia Phaenomenologica January 1, 2026 Mauro Senatore, Romanian Society For Phenomenology
In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir argues that a woman's consent to becoming a being other than an authentic phenomenological subject is a moral fault. This article examines how Beauvoir addresses altered existential modes arising from patriarchal oppression, which can develop into painful psychotic conditions. Focusing on the case of Nadia, originally described by Pierre Janet and later analyzed by Ludwig Binswanger alongside the case of Ellen West, Beauvoir develops an extended phenomenology of psychosis. She integrates the patient's lived experience with political and social factors, thereby challenging Binswanger's diagnosis of Nadia and Ellen as untreatable schizophrenics.