DOCSLIB.ORG

APA NEWSLETTER on Teaching Philosophy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
APA NEWSLETTER on Teaching Philosophy APA NEWSLETTER ON Teaching Philosophy Tziporah Kasachkoff & Eugene Kelly, Co-Editors Spring 2004 Volume 03, Number 2 bibliographical suggestions included here most helpful). In FROM THE EDITORS addition, Wolf-Devine takes up the sorts of problems that might be expected to surface in a course of this kind given the sensitive nature of the subject, the inevitable diversity of views held by students on issues relating to sex and gender, and the Tziporah Kasachkoff connection between such issues and fundamental moral, The Graduate School and University Center, CUNY political, and social outlooks. She describes the various pedagogic strategies that she herself employs for dealing with Eugene Kelly these problems and gives practical, concrete advice to others. New York Institute of Technology Our fourth inclusion under the heading “articles” is actually Our current issue offers readers three articles, four replies a set of four responses to the pedagogic quandary that Steven to a philosophical query that Steven Cahn posed in the Spring Cahn posed in the Spring 2003 issue of our Newsletter. (If any 2003 issue of our Newsletter, and three book reviews. reader is moved, upon reading these responses, to write and send in a further response, he or she should feel free to do so.) Our first article, by Nancy Daukas, entitled “Classroom Relativism as a Pedagogical Opportunity,” addresses a classroom We include in this issue of the Newsletter three book situation that almost all of us encounter in one form or another, reviews. namely, the refusal on the part of some students to As always, the addresses of our contributors are listed at acknowledge that we can ever know anything (including what the end of the issue, as is a list of books that we have received is right and wrong, what is true and what is false, and what is for review. We list the books received recently from publishers justified and unjustified) because, it is argued, disagreements that are relevant to the teaching of philosophy. And, as always, about these things are imbedded in norms and worldviews we encourage our readers to suggest themselves as reviewers that are culture-specific. It is concluded that since there is no of books and other materials that they think may be especially over-arching neutral standpoint from which one can adjudicate good for classroom use. If you know of material not listed such disagreements, these disagreements cannot be resolved. within our pages that you think would be suitable for review, Daukas argues that many students’ expressions of relativism please write and tell us. (Some of our book reviews have been harbor insights, which can be mined and developed in the suggested by instructors who have used certain material and classroom, thus affording the instructor the opportunity to teach wish to help others regarding its assessment for classroom valuable lessons in epistemology. Her many examples clarify use.) Please remember, however, that our publication is the points she makes and suggest ways in which other devoted to pedagogy and not to theoretical discussions of instructors might benefit from using students’ relativist claims philosophical issues. That should be borne in mind when to open up classroom discussion of issues relating to the nature reviewing material for our publication. (Guidelines for writing of knowledge and of justified belief. reviews for our publication will be sent to all reviewers.) Our second paper, “Using Blade Runner in Your Introduction With respect to articles for our Newsletter, papers are to Philosophy Course” by Theodore Cooke, shows how the welcome on any aspect of pedagogy, including examination film Blade Runner can be used to advantage to entice students construction, classroom motivation techniques, strategies into thinking about and discussing the question of what, found useful in teaching large classes or difficult topics, generally, constitutes personhood, what makes a particular innovative syllabi suggestions, suggestions for novel courses person the person that he or she is, and how death and mortality or course arrangements, etc. We also welcome papers that bear on the answers to these questions. Cooke indicates the respond, comment on, or take issue with any of the material specific questions he asks of students to help them focus on that appears within our pages. Generally, however, we do not the important metaphysical issues that the film raises. publish papers in excess of 15 pages. Our third paper, by Celia Wolf-Devine, “Teaching Gender The following guidelines for paper submissions should be Issues—Philosophically,” details a philosophy course that she followed: teaches about gender issues. Wolf-Devine specifies the topics • The author’s name, the title of the paper, and full that she thinks essential to cover in such a course as well as mailing address should appear on a separate sheet her reasons for their inclusion. She also details the goals that, of paper. Nothing that identifies the author or his or she thinks one should strive for in the course, and she discusses her institution should appear within the body or the structure of her course, and—very helpfully—the specific within the footnotes/endnotes of the paper. The title readings that she assigns for each of the topics that she covers. of the paper should appear on the top of the paper (Those instructors who are thinking of teaching a course on itself. Philosophy and Gender will, we think, find the detailed • Four complete copies of the paper should be sent. — APA Newsletter, Spring 2004, Volume 03, Number 2 — • Authors should adhere to the production guidelines that are published at the beginning of each edition of the Newsletters. ARTICLES • All material submitted to the Newsletter should be available on a Windows-readable computer disk, but do not send the disk with the submitted paper. The Classroom Relativism as a Pedagogical editors will request the disk when the paper is ready to be published. In writing your paper to disk, please Opportunity do not use your word processor’s footnote or endnote Nancy Daukas function; all notes should be added manually at the Guilford College end of the paper. • All articles submitted to the Newsletter are blind 1. Introduction reviewed by the members of the editorial committee. They are: My most effective class sessions focus on philosophical issues that I develop from students’ own comments. Why this should Tziporah Kasachkoff, Co-Editor be so is no mystery: effective teaching requires genuine The Graduate Center, CUNY, student engagement; students engage most easily when they Email: [email protected] see that the topic is directly “relevant” to their beliefs, values, Eugene Kelly, Co-Editor and life circumstances. However, creating opportunities to New York Institute of Technology implement this pedagogical strategy in philosophy courses that Email: [email protected]) are not directly focused on moral, social, or political topics can, of course, be a challenge. When students’ comments do David B. Martens create such opportunities, I believe they should be taken Auburn University advantage of, even if this requires diverting from the class Email: [email protected]) plan. And opportunities to explore epistemological issues do arise in the course of classroom discussion, when students Andrew Wengraf appeal to cultural relativism. When I have pressed students to Email: [email protected]) support their relativism, the reasons they have offered open doors to discussions of epistemic justification, the relation Contributions should be sent to: between relativism and skepticism, and the idea that no single Tziporah Kasachkoff set of judgments has a unique claim to truth. Ph.D. Program in Philosophy Some educators and students may consider those The Graduate School and University Center, CUNY epistemological issues to be too abstract and “intellectual” to 365 Fifth Avenue be “directly ‘relevant’ to students’ beliefs, values, and life New York City, NY 10016 circumstances.” I couldn’t disagree more: I believe that discussing epistemological issues is as important to student or to development as is discussing moral and political issues. Eugene Kelly Traditional-aged students should be learning to recognize and Department of Social Science embrace the responsibilities that accompany autonomous New York Institute of Technology agency; and some of them are epistemic. Just as students Old Westbury, NY 11568. become better equipped to develop into responsible moral agents through awareness and understanding of the The editors welcome email correspondence concerning complexities of moral life, so they become better equipped possible paper submissions or reviews. to develop into responsible epistemic agents through awareness and understanding of the complexities of epistemic life. Further, if epistemic responsibility is a necessary condition of moral responsibility, as I believe it is, the “practical relevance” of epistemology to all aspects of “real life” is undeniable. The cultural relativism (where “culture” is understood loosely) frequently expressed in the classroom goes something like this: What is “true for” one culture may not be “true for” another, and there is no objective, transcultural sense of “truth” in virtue of which it would be coherent to say that one body of belief is more correct than another, or is objectively true or false. This statement folds together several different relativist claims: (a) the empirical claim that beliefs and moral attitudes vary culturally; (b) the normative claim that what one should do or believe depends on the belief system and moral standards of one’s culture; (c) the normative claim that one should not judge the beliefs or values of other cultures by reference to the standards of one’s own culture; and (d) the higher-order claim that judgments (whether descriptive or normative) are not “objectively” true or false, but instead are “true for” — 2 — — Teaching Philosophy — particular cultures. This last claim implies that individuals from justification and truth. That much should be uncontroversial; different cultural backgrounds may have apparently and that is what I am interested in helping students understand.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • (Men Of) Reason
    Dispensing with (Men of) Reason. Stephen Hetherington The University of N~\NSouth Wales Many philosophers of feminism believe that Genevieve Lloyd, in her book The Man of Reas~n,~struck a significant blow against traditional analytic epis- tem~logy.~Supposedly, she did this by showing that the concepts of reason and rationality have, in the historical hands of Western philosophy, become genderized-in particular, masculinized. In this paper, I will not comment on whether other areas of philosophy are guilty of that charge; my present aim is simply to defend epistemology in particular against it.4 I will argue, first of all, that Lloyd's discussion in particular-whatever its other merits might be- poses no fundamental threat to epistemology:' Although her reasoning is his- toricist, it fails to establish the historical links it needs to establish; indeed, it unwittingly provides some confirmation of epistemology's enduring impor- tance. But I will also argue, more fundamentally and more generally, that no feminist argument for Lloyd's kind of conclusion could pose any real threat to epistemology: The sort of genderization which Lloyd and others believe that she has uncovered would be most clearly explicable as being a failing as such, only via some standard elements of epistemology-which is to say that what- ever shortcomings, if any, such feminist discussions could ever uncover can easily be absorbed within the scope of standard epistemological explanation. Epistemology's own metaphilosophical potential will thus be seen to confirm its own continuing significance, even in the face of feminist-historicist argu- ments like Lloyd's.
    [Show full text]
  • 'I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre': Philosophy of Education As Comedy
    Edinburgh Research Explorer ‘I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre’ Citation for published version: Griffiths, M & Peters, MA 2012, '‘I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre’: Philosophy of education as comedy', Educational Philosophy and Theory. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2012.721734 Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1080/00131857.2012.721734 Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Peer reviewed version Published In: Educational Philosophy and Theory Publisher Rights Statement: This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2012. Copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/ 10.1080/00131857.2012.721734 © Griffiths, M., & Peters, M. A. ‘I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre’: Philosophy of education as comedy. Educational Philosophy and Theory. General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. Sep. 2021 A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes. --Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value Let us ask ourselves: why do we feel a grammatical joke to be deep? (And that is what the depth of philosophy is.) (PI §111) -Ludwig Wittgenstein Dialogue.
    [Show full text]
  • Feminist Transformations of Moral Theory Author(S): Virginia Held Source: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , Autumn, 1990, Vol
    Feminist Transformations of Moral Theory Author(s): Virginia Held Source: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , Autumn, 1990, Vol. 50, Supplement (Autumn, 1990), pp. 321-344 Published by: International Phenomenological Society Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2108046 REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2108046?seq=1&cid=pdf- reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Philosophy and Phenomenological Research This content downloaded from 132.174.250.211 on Sun, 03 Jan 2021 15:21:30 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Vol. L, Supplement, Fall i990 Feminist Transformations of Moral Theory VIRGINIA HELD City University of New York, Graduate School and Hunter College The history of philosophy, including the history of ethics, has been con- structed from male points of view, and has been built on assumptions and concepts that are by no means gender-neutral.' Feminists characteristi- cally begin with different concerns and give different emphases to the issues we consider than do non-feminist approaches.
    [Show full text]
  • De Beauvoir and the Second Sex: a Marxist Interpretation
    THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL De Beauvoir and The Second Sex: A Marxist Interpretation being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of PhD in the University of Hull by Angela Shepherd, BA (hons) Philosophy, MA Philosophy of Mind and Body December 2015 1 ABSTRACT The Second Sex is Simone de Beauvoir’s seminal text. There have been numerous interpretations and critiques of this text since its inception in 1949. Most notable is the reading of her work as merely incorporating Sartrean existentialism and applying it to the social position of women. However recent theoretical discussion recognises her work as also an exploration of Marxism and this thesis follows that line of argument as, read in this context, the distinctiveness of her philosophical contribution can be made visible. Chapter one, endorses Marx’s historical materialism. Historically variable material conditions lead to historically variable human characteristics. De Beauvoir’s focus is with regard to women. Chapter two introduces the One and Other as a feature of human consciousness and a feature of women’s social oppression. Her account of why this structure explains women’s oppression is inspired by Marx’s historical materialism. Chapter three concerns the myths of femininity which also contribute to women’s oppression and are ideological in the Marxist sense of the word. Myths are productive, yet distorting and false, with the aim being to promote the interests of the powerful at the expense of those who are powerless. Chapter four expresses de Beauvoir’s views on the body insisting that the experience of biology as oppressive is a consequence of what culture makes of the body, again, utilising Marx’s historical materialism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gaze in Theory
    THE GAZE IN THEORY: THE CASES OF SARTRE AND LACAN Melinda Jill Storr Thesis submitted for DPhil degree University of York Centre for Women's Studies April 1994 ABSTRACT The topic of my research is the 'hierarchy of the senses' as it appears in mainstream Western thought, and specifically the privilege accorded to vision in twentieth century literary and theoretical writings. My aim is to investigate the allegation (as made by, for example, Evelyn Fox Keller and Christine Grontowski, and by Luce Irigaray) that the metaphor of vision is intimately connected with the construction of gender and sexual difference, and that the traditional privilege of vision acts to perpetuate the privilege of masculinity in modern writing practices. This allegation, captured in the thesis that masculinity 'looks' and femininity is 'looked-at' - that, as John Berger puts it, 'ben act and women appear" - has some degree of currency in contemporary writings an 'sexual difference', but has in itself received little critical attention. Taking the philosopher and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre and the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan as 'case studies', I investigate the plausibility of this allegation by means of a detailed analysis of the use of vision and its relation to gender in the respective works of each. This work represents a significant contribution to serious critical work an both Sartre and Lacan, and to the understanding of the relationship between gender and representation. 2 CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 8 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION 9 CHAPTER
    [Show full text]
  • 0101P115 Introduction to Philosophy
    Summer 2021 0101P115 Introduction to Philosophy Instructor: TBA Time: June 14, 2021-July 16, 2021 Contact Hours: 60 (50 minutes each) Credits: 4 E-mail: TBA Course Description This course is an introduction to the core complexities of philosophy. Within the course text, we will have the opportunity to analytically study present alternative perspectives; including analytic, continental, feminist, and non-Western viewpoints; alongside the historical works of major philosophers. Students will be presented with alternative views on philosophical issues and encouraged to reflect on the content to arrive at their own conclusions, which should be based on arguments in during the discussions with classmates, as well as on the discussions in your textbook. The purpose of philosophy is to encourage each person to think for himself or herself; no single source of arguments or information can take the place of personal dialogues and discussions. Required Textbook(s) Solomon, Robert C., Higgins, Kathleen M., & Martin, Clancy. Introducing Philosophy: A Text with Integrated Readings Publication Date - September 2015 - 1 - 0101P115 Introduction to Philosophy ISBN: 9780190209452. Prerequisites No prerequisites Course Schedule Please note that the schedule is meant to give an overview of the major concepts this course. Changes may occur in this calendar as needed to aid in the student`s development. Week One Philosophy A. Socrates Aristophanes, from Clouds Plato, from Apology; from Crito; from Phaedo; from Republic B. What Is Philosophy? Plato, from Apology Karl Jaspers, from "The 'Axial Period'" Laozi, from Dao De Jing C. A Modern Approach to Philosophy René Descartes, from Discourse on Method D. A Brief Introduction to Logic Key Terms Bibliography and Further Reading CHAPTER 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Subjectivity, Passion, and Mystical Intuition: Nietzsche's Early Writing
    Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 8-30-2018 1:30 PM Subjectivity, Passion, and Mystical Intuition: Nietzsche's Early Writing Joseph Leivdal The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Stocking, Charles The University of Western Ontario Co-Supervisor Boulter, Jonathan The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Theory and Criticism A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Joseph Leivdal 2018 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Continental Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Leivdal, Joseph, "Subjectivity, Passion, and Mystical Intuition: Nietzsche's Early Writing" (2018). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 5632. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/5632 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Subjectivity, Passion, and Mystical Intuition: Nietzsche’s Early Writing Abstract For Nietzsche, the subject is aesthetically creative, meaning that the subject is a dynamic process of self-transformation that involves not only the subject’s sense of self, but the meaning of their world. In my first chapter, I look at "On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense" to show how Nietzsche deconstructs rationalist epistemology in order to show that knowledge and meaning are an aesthetic activity. In my second chapter, I look at "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life" to argue that Nietzsche sees creativity as a passionate, sublime overflow, a rupture with the present that artistically reconfigures meaning.
    [Show full text]
  • Person and Society
    THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR METAPHYSICS STUDIES IN METAPHYSICS, VOLUME II PERSON AND SOCIETY Edited by GEORGE F. McLEAN HUGO MEYNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR METAPHYSICS DEDICATION This volume is dedicated to Prof. H.D. Lewis, the first President of The International Society for Metaphysics. His open vision and creative spirit enabled the Society rapidly to undertake the coordinated program of research in metaphysics throughout the world of which this series is the fruit. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Grateful acknowledgement is made to The University of Hawaii Press, for permission to reprint Masao Abe, "The Problem of Evil in Christianity and Buddhism," from Paul O. Ingram and Frederick J. Streng, eds., Buddhist-Christian Dialogue: Mutual Renewal and Transformation (Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, l986), pp. 139-154. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction PART I. THE PERSON AS SOCIAL 1. Person and Community, Individual and Society, Reformation and Revolution by Richard McKeon 3-16 2. Confucius, Aristotle, and Contemporary Revolutions by Ellen Chen 17-27 3. Person, Personality and Environment by Peter A. Bertocci 29-38 4. Individual and Society in Metapysical Perspective by Ivor Leclerc 39-48 5. Self-Awareness and Ulitimate Selfhood by Seyyed Hossein Nasr 49-57 6. Buddhism and the Way of Negation by Toshimitsu Hasumi 59-61 PART II. SOCIETY AND THE PERSON 7. The Development of Community by Robert O. Johann 65-75 8. Community in the Process of Development by Mieczyslaw Gogacz 77-79 9. Person as a Unique Universal Social Being by Mihailo Markovic 81-89 10. Homo Creator: Solving the Problem of Human Existence by Janusz Kuczynski 91-99 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Nancy-Bauer-Simone-De-Beauvoir-Philosophy-And-Feminism-2001.Pdf
    SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, PHILOSOPHY, & FEMINISM GENDER AND CULTURE CAROLYN G. HEILBRUN & NANCY K. MILLER, EDITORS GENDER AND CULTURE A series of Columbia University Press Edited by Carolyn G. Heilbrun and Nancy K. Miller IN DORA’S CASE: FREUD, HYSTERIA, FEMINISM Edited by Charles Bernheimer and Claire Kahane BREAKING THE CHAIN: WOMEN, THEORY, AND FRENCH REALIST FICTION Naomi Schor BETWEEN MEN: ENGLISH LITERATURE AND MALE HOMOSOCIAL DESIRE Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick ROMANTIC IMPRISONMENT: WOMEN AND OTHER GLORIFIED OUTCASTS Nina Auerbach THE POETICS OF GENDER Edited by Nancy K. Miller READING WOMAN: ESSAYS IN FEMINIST CRITICISM Mary Jacobus HONEY-MAD WOMEN: EMANCIPATORY STRATEGIES IN WOMEN’S WRITING Patricia Yaeger SUBJECT TO CHANGE: READING FEMINIST WRITING Nancy K. Miller THINKING THROUGH THE BODY Jane Gallop GENDER AND THE POLITICS OF HISTORY Joan Wallach Scott THE DIALOGIC AND DIFFERENCE: “AN/OTHER WOMAN” IN VIRGINIA WOOLF AND CHRISTA WOLF Anne Herrmann PLOTTING WOMEN: GENDER AND REPRESENTATION IN MEXICO Jean Franco INSPIRITING INFLUENCES: TRADITION, REVISION, AND AFRO-AMERICAN WOMEN’S NOVELS Michael Awkward HAMLET’S MOTHER AND OTHER WOMEN Carolyn G. Heilbrun RAPE AND REPRESENTATION Edited by Lynn A. Higgins and Brenda R. Silver SHIFTING SCENES: INTERVIEWS ON WOMEN, WRITING, AND POLITICS IN POST-68 FRANCE Edited by Alice A. Jardine and Anne M. Menke TENDER GEOGRAPHIES: WOMEN AND THE ORIGINS OF THE NOVEL IN FRANCE Joan DeJean MODERN FEMINISMS: POLITICAL, LITERARY, CULTURAL Maggie Humm UNBECOMING WOMEN: BRITISH WOMEN WRITERS AND THE NOVEL OF DEVELOPMENT Susan Fraiman THE APPARITIONAL LESBIAN: FEMALE HOMOSEXUALITY AND MODERN CULTURE Terry Castle GEORGE SAND AND IDEALISM Naomi Schor BECOMING A HEROINE: READING ABOUT WOMEN IN NOVELS Rachel M.
    [Show full text]
  • Meditations on First Philosophy
    oxford world’s classics MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY René Descartes was born at La Haye near Tours on 31 March 1596. He was educated at the Jesuit Collège de la Flèche in Anjou, and at the University of Poitiers, where he took a Licenciate in Law in 1616. Two years later he entered the army of Prince Maurice of Nassau in Holland, and met a local schoolmaster, Isaac Beeckman, who fostered his interest in mathematics and physics. After further travels in Europe he settled in Paris in 1625, and came into contact with scientists, theologians, and philosophers in the circle of the Minim friar Marin Mersenne. At the end of 1928 Descartes left for Holland, which he made his home until 1648; he devoted himself to carrying forward the mathematical, scientific, and philosophical work he had begun in Paris. When he learned of the condemnation of Galileo for heresy in 1633, he abandoned his plans to publish a treatise on physics, and under pressure from his friends consented to have the Discourse on the Method printed, with three accompany- ing essays on topics in which he had made discoveries. In 1641 his Meditations appeared, setting out the metaphysical underpinnings of his physical theories; these were accompanied by objections written by contemporary philosophers, and Descartes’s replies to them. His writings provoked controversy in both France and Holland, where his scientific ideas were banned in one university; his works, however (including the Principles of Philosophy of 1644) continued to be published, and to bring him notoriety and renown. In 1648 he accepted an invitation from Queen Christina of Sweden to settle in Stockholm; it was there he died of pneumonia on 11 February 1650.
    [Show full text]
  • A Reading of Simone De Beauvoir's When Things of the Spirit Come
    Beyond the Independent Woman: A Reading of Simone de Beauvoir’s When Things of the Spirit Come First with The Second Sex Kelly Anne Beck Bachelor of Arts (Griffith), Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) (UQ), Graduate Diploma of Arts (Philosophy) (UQ) A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2018 School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry Abstract This thesis explores the implications of Simone de Beauvoir’s philosophical and literary representations of women through a close reading of selected chapters from The Second Sex alongside selected stories from When Things of the Spirit Come First. Just as Beauvoir argues that women cannot be represented through discourses of class, history, biology and psychoanalysis, this thesis will show how women cannot be fully represented or understood as complete individuals within the contexts of their social roles either. To this end, the focus of this thesis will be the independent woman, the mother and the daughter. In this thesis, I have paired the short stories ‘Marguerite’ and ‘Anne’ from When Things of the Spirit Come First with the chapters ‘The Independent Woman’, ‘The Mother’ and ‘The Mystic’ from The Second Sex. Linking the stories in When Things of the Spirit Come First with The Second Sex highlights the importance of literary writing to the understanding of Beauvoir’s philosophy. In this thesis I argue that Beauvoir’s literary work should not be seen as subordinate to, or as separate from, her philosophical work. Her representation of women in literary terms in both philosophical and literary texts has ensured that women are recognised and made visible to philosophy as philosophical, political and ethical subjects.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 -Draft- Equality and Difference Feminisms And
    -DRAFT- EQUALITY AND DIFFERENCE FEMINISMS AND SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR’S THE SECOND SEX Nadine Changfoot Department of Politics Trent University 1600 West Bank Drive Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8 [email protected] Abstract This paper argues that Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex anticipates the impasse between equality feminism and difference feminism and their respective limits. This germinal text of second wave feminism reveals an aspect of equality feminism that relies upon masculine subjectivity, a subjectivity that inherently constitutes otherness. The reliance on masculine subjectivity Beauvoir aspires women to embody would be anathema to difference feminism because the otherness inherently constituted by such subjectivity simultaneously and paradoxically constitutes women’s ongoing subordination. In assuming equality with men without examining the implications of masculine subjectivity upon which that equality is based, women are not immune to constituting other women as other. At the same time, difference strategies are limited because The Second Sex reveals they require an imagined freedom in order to identify the difference that would empower women. Such imagined freedom has not been actualized, but nonetheless it is vital to identify the difference that needs consideration. Given these limitations, one might expect equality and difference feminisms to have reached their limits as strategies for advancing women’s equality. However, they have been and remain useful strategies not in spite of their limitations, but because of them, specifically having to do with lessons of domination in the case of equality feminism and the need for recognizing difference in the case of difference feminism. Thus, the tension between equality and difference feminisms need not be understood as an either-or proposition, but instead feminisms with limitations, each with productive potential and cautionary rejoinders.
    [Show full text]