Birth, Death, and Femininity: Philosophies of Embodiment

by Robin May Schott (Editor), Sara Hein maa (Contribution by), Vigdis Songe-M ller (Contribution by), Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (Contribution by)

Overview

Issues surrounding birth and death have been fundamental for Western philosophy as well as for individual existence. The contributors to this volume unravel the gendered aspects of the classical philosophical discourses on death, bringing in discussions about birth, creativity, and the entire chain of human activity. By linking their work to major thinkers such as Heidegger, Nietzsche, Beauvoir, and Arendt, and to major philosophical currents such as ancient philosophy, existentialism, phenomenology, and social and political philosophy, they challenge prevailing feminist articulations of birth and death. These philosophical reflections add an important sexual dimension to current thinking on identity, temporality, and community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253222374
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	10/25/2010
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robin May Schott is Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (Holocaust and Genocide). She is editor of Feminist Philosophy and the Problem of Evil (IUP, 2007).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction: Birth, Death, and Femininity Robin May Schott 1

Part 1 Politics of Community

2 Sexual Violence, Sacrifice, and Narratives of Political Origins Robin May Schott 25

3 Natality and Destruction: Arendtian Reflections on War Rape Robin May Schott 49

Part 2 Phenomenologies of Mortality and Generativity

4 The Sexed Self and the Mortal Body Sara Heinämaa 73

5 Being towards Death Sara Heinämaa 98

6 Future and Others Sara Heinämaa 119

Part 3 Nietzsche's Philosophy of Life

7 Nietzsche's Philosophy of Birth Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir 157

8 The Natal Self Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir 186

Part 4 An Ancient Tragedy

9 Antigone and the Deadly Desire for Sameness: Reflections on Origins and Death Vigdis Songe-Møller 211

Notes on Contributors 253

Index 255

What People are Saying About This

George Mason University - Debra Bergoffen

For feminist scholars across the disciplines.

Universityof Wisconsin–Madison - Claudia Card

I know of no other philosophical work that relates birth and death with sustained, in-depth treatment and connects them to the work of major philosophers.

Editorial Reviews

"I know of no other philosophical work that relates birth and death with sustained, in-depth treatment and connects them to the work of major philosophers."—Claudia Card, University of Wisconsin–Madison

"For feminist scholars across the disciplines."—Debra Bergoffen, George Mason University

From the Publisher

"I know of no other philosophical work that relates birth and death with sustained, in-depth treatment and connects them to the work of major philosophers." —Claudia Card, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Claudia Card

"For feminist scholars across the disciplines." —Debra Bergoffen, George Mason University

Debra Bergoffen