Feminist Interpretations of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Re-reading the Canon) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 027102917X ISBN 13: 9780271029177

Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006

Synopsis

More than sixty years ago, Simone de Beauvoir identified the importance of Maurice Merleau-Ponty&;s writings to feminist theory. His exploration of the relationship between the body and the space it inhabits is key to modern phenomenological thinking. But there has been little agreement on how Merleau-Ponty&;s ideas ultimately have an impact on feminist philosophy. Does his emphasis on physical subjectivity lend a certain agency to all bodies, regardless of sex? Or do Merleau-Ponty&;s specific descriptions of physical experience betray an intrinsic bias toward a male heterosexual point of view? The essays presented here by Olkowski and Weiss attempt to situate Merleau-Ponty in the larger context of feminist theory, while impartially evaluating his contributions, both positive and negative, to that theory.

In addition to the editors, the contributors are Jorella Andrews, David Brubaker, Judith Butler, Laura Doyle, Helen Fielding, Vicki Kirby, Sonia Kruks, Ann Murphy, Johanna Oksala, and Beata Stawarska.

About this title

About the Authors

Dorothea Olkowski is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Gail Weiss is Director of the Human Sciences Program and Associate Professor of Philosophy at The George Washington University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 027102917X
• ISBN 13: 9780271029177
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Olkowski Dorothea, Weiss Gail