Description
Book SynopsisThe blindness to ontological questioning in feminist theory has left a lacuna in scholarly study that Touching Thoughta study at the intersection of ontological meditation and feminist theorizing on sexual differenceseeks to fill. Ellen Mortensen''s new work critiques the language and theoretical pathways of contemporary feminist theorists such as Judith Butler, Rosi Braidotti, Elizabeth Grosz, Luce Irigaray, Theresa de Lauretis, and Donna Haraway to reveal a problematic predilection for technological language at the expense of ontological inquiry. The volume ranges across feminist epistemology and ethics, the politics of performativity, the aesthetics of body/power, and the question of sexual difference and concludes with an examination of the different philosophical and theoretical attempts at undertaking an ontological questioning of sexual difference. This foundational work will serve as preparation for scholars of feminist and queer theory and continental philosophy seeking alternative pathways of feminist thought that encourage fundamental thinking on the subject of individual freedom.
Trade ReviewEllen Mortensen's Touching Thought explores ontological questions surrounding sexual difference left unthought in much of contemporary feminism. With her tenacious and meticulous meditations on lesbian/feminist epistemology, ethics, and politics, Mortensen forces us to come to terms with Heidegger's challenge to Western thought. -- Kelly Oliver, SUNY, Stony Brook
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Butches and Nomads: The Dynamic Imperative in Feminist Theory Chapter 3 Performative Agency and the Question of Being Chapter 4 "Becoming-Lesbian" and the Aesthetics of Body/Power Chapter 5 Does Dasein Have a Sex? Derrida on Heidegger's Geschlecht Chapter 6 A Difference of Air: Irigaray With Heidegger Chapter 7 Touched by Thought? Technology & Sexual Difference
