Ontologies of Sex: Philosophy in Sexual Politics

Ontologies of Sex: Philosophy in Sexual Politics

Author: Zeynep Direk

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-06-17

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 178660664X

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Ontologies of Sex: Philosophy in Sexual Politics considers the ontological presuppositions of feminist theories of sexual difference and brings them into conversation with phenomenological, ontological accounts of erotic experience. Erotic relation is a corporeal, intimate, and affective encounter with the other in which the subjects have the possibility of being revealed to themselves and to each other in who they are. In eroticism, law paradoxes, death, abjection, subjectivity, sovereignty, commitment, engagement, freedom are at stake. By inquiring into various types of analyzes of sexual oppression and different accounts of ethics of Eros, this book invites the reader to deepen their existential reflection on the significance of Eros for human life in general, and for political subjectivity in particular.


Book Synopsis Ontologies of Sex: Philosophy in Sexual Politics by : Zeynep Direk

Download or read book Ontologies of Sex: Philosophy in Sexual Politics written by Zeynep Direk and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-06-17 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ontologies of Sex: Philosophy in Sexual Politics considers the ontological presuppositions of feminist theories of sexual difference and brings them into conversation with phenomenological, ontological accounts of erotic experience. Erotic relation is a corporeal, intimate, and affective encounter with the other in which the subjects have the possibility of being revealed to themselves and to each other in who they are. In eroticism, law paradoxes, death, abjection, subjectivity, sovereignty, commitment, engagement, freedom are at stake. By inquiring into various types of analyzes of sexual oppression and different accounts of ethics of Eros, this book invites the reader to deepen their existential reflection on the significance of Eros for human life in general, and for political subjectivity in particular.


Ontology of Sex

Ontology of Sex

Author: Carrie Hull

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-01-16

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1134239920

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Poststructuralism, particularly through the writings of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler, has achieved remarkable success in challenging our belief in natural sex categories and instincts. Here, Carrie Hull endorses the progressive ideals of poststructuralism while demonstrating the superiority of a realist account of sex and sexuality. Embracing biological and cultural variability, Hull nonetheless shows that the sexed body is naturally structured and deeply meaningful. Poststructuralist philosophers have argued that biological sex is a continuum rather than a binary, and that sex identity and drive are entirely performances of cultural norms rather than expressions of innate qualities. Hull draws parallels with Nelson Goodman, W.V.O. Quine, and B.F. Skinner to show that these poststructuralist theories are rooted in a nominalist, relativist, and behaviourist philosophy, and develops an alternative framework using arguments from contemporary and critical realism. Employing colourful illustrations from biology, anthropology and psychology, Hull demonstrates the rich potential of realist philosophy, and concludes that it is philosophically and scientifically correct, on one hand, and politically advisable, on the other, to maintain a distinction - albeit attenuated - between sex and gender, and sexuality and behaviour.


Book Synopsis Ontology of Sex by : Carrie Hull

Download or read book Ontology of Sex written by Carrie Hull and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-01-16 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poststructuralism, particularly through the writings of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler, has achieved remarkable success in challenging our belief in natural sex categories and instincts. Here, Carrie Hull endorses the progressive ideals of poststructuralism while demonstrating the superiority of a realist account of sex and sexuality. Embracing biological and cultural variability, Hull nonetheless shows that the sexed body is naturally structured and deeply meaningful. Poststructuralist philosophers have argued that biological sex is a continuum rather than a binary, and that sex identity and drive are entirely performances of cultural norms rather than expressions of innate qualities. Hull draws parallels with Nelson Goodman, W.V.O. Quine, and B.F. Skinner to show that these poststructuralist theories are rooted in a nominalist, relativist, and behaviourist philosophy, and develops an alternative framework using arguments from contemporary and critical realism. Employing colourful illustrations from biology, anthropology and psychology, Hull demonstrates the rich potential of realist philosophy, and concludes that it is philosophically and scientifically correct, on one hand, and politically advisable, on the other, to maintain a distinction - albeit attenuated - between sex and gender, and sexuality and behaviour.


What IS Sex?

What IS Sex?

Author: Alenka Zupancic

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2017-09-08

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 0262341913

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Why sexuality is at the point of a “short circuit” between ontology and epistemology. Consider sublimation—conventionally understood as a substitute satisfaction for missing sexual satisfaction. But what if, as Lacan claims, we can get exactly the same satisfaction that we get from sex from talking (or writing, painting, praying, or other activities)? The point is not to explain the satisfaction from talking by pointing to its sexual origin, but that the satisfaction from talking is itself sexual. The satisfaction from talking contains a key to sexual satisfaction (and not the other way around)—even a key to sexuality itself and its inherent contradictions. The Lacanian perspective would make the answer to the simple-seeming question, “What is sex?” rather more complex. In this volume in the Short Circuits series, Alenka Zupančič approaches the question from just this perspective, considering sexuality a properly philosophical problem for psychoanalysis; and by psychoanalysis, she means that of Freud and Lacan, not that of the kind of clinician practitioners called by Lacan “orthopedists of the unconscious.” Zupančič argues that sexuality is at the point of a “short circuit” between ontology and epistemology. Sexuality and knowledge are structured around a fundamental negativity, which unites them at the point of the unconscious. The unconscious (as linked to sexuality) is the concept of an inherent link between being and knowledge in their very negativity.


Book Synopsis What IS Sex? by : Alenka Zupancic

Download or read book What IS Sex? written by Alenka Zupancic and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why sexuality is at the point of a “short circuit” between ontology and epistemology. Consider sublimation—conventionally understood as a substitute satisfaction for missing sexual satisfaction. But what if, as Lacan claims, we can get exactly the same satisfaction that we get from sex from talking (or writing, painting, praying, or other activities)? The point is not to explain the satisfaction from talking by pointing to its sexual origin, but that the satisfaction from talking is itself sexual. The satisfaction from talking contains a key to sexual satisfaction (and not the other way around)—even a key to sexuality itself and its inherent contradictions. The Lacanian perspective would make the answer to the simple-seeming question, “What is sex?” rather more complex. In this volume in the Short Circuits series, Alenka Zupančič approaches the question from just this perspective, considering sexuality a properly philosophical problem for psychoanalysis; and by psychoanalysis, she means that of Freud and Lacan, not that of the kind of clinician practitioners called by Lacan “orthopedists of the unconscious.” Zupančič argues that sexuality is at the point of a “short circuit” between ontology and epistemology. Sexuality and knowledge are structured around a fundamental negativity, which unites them at the point of the unconscious. The unconscious (as linked to sexuality) is the concept of an inherent link between being and knowledge in their very negativity.


Gender and Power

Gender and Power

Author: Raewyn Connell

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-05-15

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 0745665276

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This book is an important introductory textbook on sexual politics and an original contribution to the reformulation of social and political theory. In a discussion of, among other issues, psychoanalysis, Marxism and feminist theories, the structure of gender relations, and working class feminism, Connell has produced a major work of synthesis and scholarship which will be of unique value to students and professionals in sociology, politics, women's studies and to anyone interested in the field of sexual politics. Visit www.raewynconnell.net


Book Synopsis Gender and Power by : Raewyn Connell

Download or read book Gender and Power written by Raewyn Connell and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-05-15 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an important introductory textbook on sexual politics and an original contribution to the reformulation of social and political theory. In a discussion of, among other issues, psychoanalysis, Marxism and feminist theories, the structure of gender relations, and working class feminism, Connell has produced a major work of synthesis and scholarship which will be of unique value to students and professionals in sociology, politics, women's studies and to anyone interested in the field of sexual politics. Visit www.raewynconnell.net


Education for Political Life

Education for Political Life

Author: Iaan Reynolds

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1538171902

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Situating Karl Mannheim in a tradition of critical social philosophy, Iaan Reynolds argues that Mannheim's early explorations in the sociology of knowledge offer a novel approach to this tradition since they emphasize the need for social research to cultivate the critical self-awareness of social researchers.


Book Synopsis Education for Political Life by : Iaan Reynolds

Download or read book Education for Political Life written by Iaan Reynolds and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Situating Karl Mannheim in a tradition of critical social philosophy, Iaan Reynolds argues that Mannheim's early explorations in the sociology of knowledge offer a novel approach to this tradition since they emphasize the need for social research to cultivate the critical self-awareness of social researchers.


Boris Hessen and Philosophy

Boris Hessen and Philosophy

Author: Sean Winkler

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-11-21

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1538147599

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In 1931, Soviet philosopher, Boris Hessen presented a paper at the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology in London, England. It was a watershed moment, marking the founding of the ‘externalist’ approach to the history and philosophy of science. Five years after this talk, however, Hessen was executed in what became Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge of the 1930s. Nearly a century after his death, we still know all too little about this pioneering figure and his expansive oeuvre. In this book, Sean Winkler provides a reading of Hessen’s philosophy and its unique approach to understanding the relationship between socioeconomic development, technological progress and natural scientific theory. To further encourage the study of Hessen, the book also includes first-time translations of his contributions to the Soviet Encyclopedia. Through a systematic analysis, Winkler reflects upon Hessen’s contribution to the history and philosophy of science of the past and his possible significance in the world today.


Book Synopsis Boris Hessen and Philosophy by : Sean Winkler

Download or read book Boris Hessen and Philosophy written by Sean Winkler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-11-21 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1931, Soviet philosopher, Boris Hessen presented a paper at the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology in London, England. It was a watershed moment, marking the founding of the ‘externalist’ approach to the history and philosophy of science. Five years after this talk, however, Hessen was executed in what became Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge of the 1930s. Nearly a century after his death, we still know all too little about this pioneering figure and his expansive oeuvre. In this book, Sean Winkler provides a reading of Hessen’s philosophy and its unique approach to understanding the relationship between socioeconomic development, technological progress and natural scientific theory. To further encourage the study of Hessen, the book also includes first-time translations of his contributions to the Soviet Encyclopedia. Through a systematic analysis, Winkler reflects upon Hessen’s contribution to the history and philosophy of science of the past and his possible significance in the world today.


Transforming Politics with Merleau-Ponty

Transforming Politics with Merleau-Ponty

Author: Jérôme Melançon

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1538153092

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The contributors to this book offer productive new readings of Merleau-Ponty’s political philosophy and of other facets of his thought. They each deploy his theories to adopt a critical stance on urgent political issues and contemporary situations within society. Each essay focuses on a different aspect of political transformation, be it at the personal, social, national, or international level. The book as a whole maps out possibilities for thinking phenomenologically about politics without a sole focus on the state, turning instead toward contemporary human experience and existence.


Book Synopsis Transforming Politics with Merleau-Ponty by : Jérôme Melançon

Download or read book Transforming Politics with Merleau-Ponty written by Jérôme Melançon and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors to this book offer productive new readings of Merleau-Ponty’s political philosophy and of other facets of his thought. They each deploy his theories to adopt a critical stance on urgent political issues and contemporary situations within society. Each essay focuses on a different aspect of political transformation, be it at the personal, social, national, or international level. The book as a whole maps out possibilities for thinking phenomenologically about politics without a sole focus on the state, turning instead toward contemporary human experience and existence.


The Sexual Politics of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Sexual Politics of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Author: Joel Schwartz

Publisher: Chicago : University of Chicago Press

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13:

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Joel Schwartz presents the first systematic treatment of Rousseau's understanding of the political importance of women, sexuality, and the family. Using both Rousseau's lesser-known literary works and such major writings as Emile, Julie, and The Second Discourse, he offers an original and provocative presentation of Rousseau's argument. To read Rousseau, Schwartz believes, is to enter into a profound discourse about the meaning of sexual equality and the opportunities, pitfalls, costs, and benefits that sexual relationships bestow and impose on us all. His own thoughtful reading of Rousseau opens up fresh perspectives on political philosophy and the history of sexual, masculine, and feminine psychology.


Book Synopsis The Sexual Politics of Jean-Jacques Rousseau by : Joel Schwartz

Download or read book The Sexual Politics of Jean-Jacques Rousseau written by Joel Schwartz and published by Chicago : University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1984 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joel Schwartz presents the first systematic treatment of Rousseau's understanding of the political importance of women, sexuality, and the family. Using both Rousseau's lesser-known literary works and such major writings as Emile, Julie, and The Second Discourse, he offers an original and provocative presentation of Rousseau's argument. To read Rousseau, Schwartz believes, is to enter into a profound discourse about the meaning of sexual equality and the opportunities, pitfalls, costs, and benefits that sexual relationships bestow and impose on us all. His own thoughtful reading of Rousseau opens up fresh perspectives on political philosophy and the history of sexual, masculine, and feminine psychology.


Foucault and Governmentality

Foucault and Governmentality

Author: Benda Hofmeyr

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-07-11

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1786611732

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Using empirical research, this book aims to critically analyse the dynamics, culture and forms of subjectivity of neo-liberalism. It draws upon existing historical, sociological and cultural studies to excavate the geneaology of the capitalist subject with specific emphasis on the neo-liberal govern-mental context of the last four decades. Michel Foucault’s notion of governmentality, which he developed in his Collège de France lectures of 1978 and 1979, will be employed as an hermeneutic key to historically situate and critically analyse the regimes of subject-formation characteristic of neo-liberal capitalism. The current crisis in capitalism is surveyed, along with earlier forms of capitalism, and the transition in power from discipline to control is explored. The study concludes by tracing the changing face of Homo Economicus in relation to resistance levelled against neo-liberal capitalism and the resultant metamorphises it has undergone.Drawing upon political philosophy and political economy, Benda Hofmeyr presents a comprehensive Foucaultian analysis and historical contextualisation of the rise of neo-liberal governmentality.


Book Synopsis Foucault and Governmentality by : Benda Hofmeyr

Download or read book Foucault and Governmentality written by Benda Hofmeyr and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-07-11 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using empirical research, this book aims to critically analyse the dynamics, culture and forms of subjectivity of neo-liberalism. It draws upon existing historical, sociological and cultural studies to excavate the geneaology of the capitalist subject with specific emphasis on the neo-liberal govern-mental context of the last four decades. Michel Foucault’s notion of governmentality, which he developed in his Collège de France lectures of 1978 and 1979, will be employed as an hermeneutic key to historically situate and critically analyse the regimes of subject-formation characteristic of neo-liberal capitalism. The current crisis in capitalism is surveyed, along with earlier forms of capitalism, and the transition in power from discipline to control is explored. The study concludes by tracing the changing face of Homo Economicus in relation to resistance levelled against neo-liberal capitalism and the resultant metamorphises it has undergone.Drawing upon political philosophy and political economy, Benda Hofmeyr presents a comprehensive Foucaultian analysis and historical contextualisation of the rise of neo-liberal governmentality.


Reconsidering Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness

Reconsidering Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness

Author: Christopher Peys

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-05-29

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1786615193

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Reconsidering Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness presents a world-centric, ‘caring’ conceptualization of cosmopolitanism and forgiveness grounded in the thought of two radical, twentieth-century continental thinkers: Hannah Arendt and Jacques Derrida. It fundamentally re-evaluates what it means to care for the world in ‘dark times’ and develops a political theory of repairing, preserving and cultivating the relationships which constitute the human community. This interdisciplinary book reveals how cosmopolitanism and forgiveness each care for the powerful experience of human freedom: the power to begin new courses of political action with a plurality of people in the public realm. It not only casts new light on the political thought of both Arendt and Derrida but also contributes to ongoing debates about the nature of political spaces, the possibility for collective political action, and the importance of cultivating encounters with the unknown Other in today’s digitally interconnected world.


Book Synopsis Reconsidering Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness by : Christopher Peys

Download or read book Reconsidering Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness written by Christopher Peys and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-05-29 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reconsidering Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness presents a world-centric, ‘caring’ conceptualization of cosmopolitanism and forgiveness grounded in the thought of two radical, twentieth-century continental thinkers: Hannah Arendt and Jacques Derrida. It fundamentally re-evaluates what it means to care for the world in ‘dark times’ and develops a political theory of repairing, preserving and cultivating the relationships which constitute the human community. This interdisciplinary book reveals how cosmopolitanism and forgiveness each care for the powerful experience of human freedom: the power to begin new courses of political action with a plurality of people in the public realm. It not only casts new light on the political thought of both Arendt and Derrida but also contributes to ongoing debates about the nature of political spaces, the possibility for collective political action, and the importance of cultivating encounters with the unknown Other in today’s digitally interconnected world.