Imaginary Bodies: Ethics, Power and Corporeality / Edition 1

by Moira Gatens

Overview

Moira Gatens investigates the ways in which differently sexed bodies can occupy the same social or political space. Representations of sexual difference have unacknowledged philosophical roots which cannot be dismissed as a superficial bias on the part of the philosopher, nor removed without destroying the coherence of the philosophical system concerned. The deep structural bias against women extends beyond metaphysics and its effects are felt in epistemology, moral, social and political theory.
The idea of sexual difference is contextualised in Imaginary Bodies and traced through the history of philosophy. Using her work on Spinoza, Gatens develops alternative conceptions of power, new ways of conceiving women's embodiment and their legal, political and ethical status.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415082099
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/23/1995
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Moira Gatens is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sydney. She is the author of Feminism and Philosophy: Perspectives on Difference and Equality.

Table of Contents

Part 1; Chapter 1 A critique of the sex/gender distinction; Chapter 2 Corporeal representation in/and the body politic; Chapter 3 Woman and her double(s); Part 2; Chapter 4 Towards a feminist philosophy of the body; Chapter 5 Power, bodies and difference; Chapter 6 Contracting sex; Part 3; Chapter 7 Embodiment, ethics and difference; Chapter 8 Spinoza, law and responsibility; Chapter 9 Power, ethics and sexual imaginaries; epilogue; Epilogue;

Editorial Reviews

'Imaginary Bodies is an excellent contribution to current debates and would be of interest to students and lecturers in Health, Women's Studies and Philosophy.' - The Journal of Contemporary Health

From the Publisher