Description
Book SynopsisInBelief, Bodies, and Being, twelve distinguished contributors present diverse and illuminating viewpoints on feminist issues of embodiement, materialism, and agency from feminist and postmodernist philosophical perspectives. Beginnning by positing non-traditional ways of approaching ontological concerns (through the acknowledgement of agential realties and the usage of an ontology of tropes), the volume concludes by addressing highly specific, culturally constituted types of postmodern bodies (monstrous, anorexic, and pharmaceutical bodies).
Trade ReviewThese essays range from a discussion of the classical figure of Diotima to the contemporary work of Judith Butler, from reflections on Niels Bohr's philosophy-physics to reflections on monstrous bodies. The authors reflect on the multiplicity of bodies, which has been a core issue for feminist theory during the last fifty years. Belief, Bodies and Being provides English-speaking readers with access to work by contemporary European feminist philosophers - from France, Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands - in addition to work by North American authors, illustrating how combining classical training in philosophy with current feminist debates brings new light to bear on both philosophy and feminist theory. -- Robin May Schott, Senior Researcher, Danish Institute for International Studies
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Acknowledgements Chapter 3 Thinking Through the Body: An Introduction to Beliefs, Bodies and Being Chapter 4 Posthumanist Performativity: Toward an Understanding of How Matter Comes to Matter Chapter 5 Monstrous Reflections on the Mirror of the Self-Same Chapter 6 Ontology and Feminism Chapter 7 Diotima, Wittgenstein and a Language for Liberation Chapter 8 Re-situating the Feminine in Contemporary French Philosophy Chapter 9 Being and Time, Non-Being and Space... Introductory Notes Toward an Ontological Stude of 'Women' Chapter 10 To Take a Chance with Meaning under the Veil of Words: Transpositions, Mothers and Learning in Julia Kristeva's Theory of Language Chapter 11 In Search of the Body in the Cave: Luce Irigaray's Ethics of Embodiment Chapter 12 Reconsidering the Notion of the Body in Anti-essentialism, With the Help of Luce Irigaray and Judith Butler Chapter 13 Butler's Sophisticated Constructivism: A Critical Assessment Chapter 14 A Critique of Feminist Radical Constructionism Chapter 15 Applying Time to Feminist Philosophy of the Body Chapter 16 Contributors Chapter 17 Index
