scholarly journals From Contamination to Community: Octavia Butler's Clay's Ark

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-24
Author(s):  
Neeraja Sundaram
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Social Order ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Viral Agent ◽  
Definition Of

This paper examines the trope of the virus in Octavia Butler’s 1984 science fiction novel Clay’s Ark, where an alien virus manifests as a border organism that produces new forms of the human. I argue that the trope of the viral agent in Butler’s Clay’s Ark reconfigures the ‘self’ (the human) and the ‘other’ (the virus) at the level of the material and the discursive, leading to a reconceptualisation of the epistemological and ontological basis for the definition of and distinction between, the two. Secondly, the diseased, contagious self in Clay’s Ark, is subject to neither ‘containment’ nor quarantine, but instead is the basis for the formation of a new social contract in a world that is soon to be ravaged by an extraterrestrial epidemic. The paper demonstrates the pervasive influence of the epistemic and discursive formulations of the “human” in a social order transformed by viral invasion.

scholarly journals Der Spannungsbogen von Autonomie und Verletzlichkeit. Eine phänomenologisch-anthropologische Reflexion / The Unsolved Tension between Autonomy and Vulnerability

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 349-363
Author(s):  
Alice Pugliese
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Summary A phenomenological approach to anthropology should not propose a static definition of man, but inquire into specific human motivations, which never occur isolated. Therefore, the autonomy-dependency connection is presented as a possible human motivational ground. The notion of autonomy, presented with reference to the Kantian idea of the self-determining reason and to the Husserlian account of self-constitution, reveals in itself elements of dependency. On the other side, the notion of vulnerability and reliance is displayed through different approaches of Gehlen, MacIntyre and Toombs in order to illustrate dependency not as a mere capitulation of the subject, but as one of its intrinsic possibilities, which does not exclude autonomous will.

scholarly journals Psychoanalysis and Deconstruction, A Love Story

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-44
Author(s):  
Kelly Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Social Contract ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Love Story ◽  
The Social ◽  
Origin Story ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Voice

In The Right to Narcissism: A Case for Im-Possible Self-Love, Pleshette DeArmitt opens the space for an alternative to origin story so popular with political philosophers, namely, the social contract, which assumes a rational and self-identical subject.  She does this obliquely by deconstructing narcissism as love of the self-same, or, love of what Kristeva might call “the clean and proper self.”  Like Echo interrupting Narcissus’s soliloquy of deadly self-absorbed pleasure and his solitary auto-affection upon seeing his own reflection, Pleshette interrupts the seeming proximity of self-same, the closeness of near, and the propinquity of proper by deflecting the image of Narcissus onto the voice of Echo, who comes into her own by repeating his words.  How, asks Pleshette, can Echo’s reiteration of the words of another be anything more than mere repetition or reduplication?  Echoing Derrida, she answers that it is through a declaration of love.  Echo’s repetition of the words of Narcissus take on new meaning, and allow her to express herself, and her love, through the words of the other.  After all words are words of the other.  Language comes to us from the other.  Echo becomes a self, a “little narcissist,” through an address from and to the other, through the appropriation and ex-appropriation of the other’s words. 

scholarly journals El género narrativo de Testo yonqui. Aproximación a la deriva ensayística de Paul B. Preciado

2020 ◽  
pp. 191-214
Author(s):  
Pau Conde Arroyo
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

Este artículo trata de problematizar la definición taxonómica de Testo yonqui desde una óptica literaria que atiende a su faceta narrativa para dilucidar los cauces por los que se manifiesta en tanto que ensayo queer. Dicha problematización es abordada desde dos lugares: por un lado, desde la propia obra, atendiendo a las autodefiniciones presentes en el texto, que son examinadas a partir del marco teórico de la autobiografía; y, por otro lado, desde la recepción crítica de Testo yonqui. En último lugar, a la luz de lo anterior, se exponen una serie de tensiones relativas a la relación entre narración, referente y representación en la propuesta experimental del principio autocobaya.   This article aims to question the taxonomical definition of Testo Junkie from a literary perspective that considers its narrative aspect in order to elucidate the ways in which it can be regarded as a queer essay. Such questioning is approached from two angles: on the one hand, from the work itself, examining the self-definitions found in the text, which are studied on the basis of the theoretical framework of autobiography; and, on the other hand, from Testo Junkie’s critic reception. Lastly, the principle of the auto-guinea pig is also explored, in reference to the series of tensions arising from the relationship between narration, referent and representation.

scholarly journals The Arab World and the Occident: Toward the Construction of an Occidentalist Discourse

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-222
Author(s):  
Zahia Smail Salhi
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Reverse Relationship ◽  
Style Of Thought ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
East West

Purpose: This article aims to engage in a meaningful discussion of Occidentalism as a discourse that draws its roots from Orientalism. It scrutinizes the limitations of Occidentalism in investigating the East-West encounter from the perspective of Orientals (Arab intellectuals) and the multifarious ways the latter relate to and imagine the Occident. It will cast a critical eye on the multiple and diverse constructions of Occidentalism as a discourse, arguing that unlike Orientalism, which homogenizes the Orient, Occidentalism does not Occidentalize/homogenize the Occident. Methodology: We take as a starting point Edward Said’s definition of Orientalism as a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between ‘the Orient’ and ‘the Occident’, and we explore the limitations and the possibilities of Occidentalism as a method to construe the colonial mechanisms of misrepresentation of the Other as everything different from the Self. This article compares and contrasts a plethora of existing definitions of Occidentalism as formulated by scholars from both the Arab world and the Occident. Findings: This paper concludes that the Oriental’s encounter with the Occident cannot, and should not, be projected as a reverse relationship, or, as some claim, as an ‘Orientalism in reverse’. Instead, it should be projected as a diverse set of relationships of Orientals who have experienced the Occident in a variety of manners. Furthermore, while Orientalism derives from a particular closeness experienced between the Occident and its Orient, often through real or imagined encounters, Occidentalism is also the outcome of a long cultural relationship between the Orient and its Occident. What differs between the Orient and Occident, however, is the position of power and hegemony, which characterizes the Occident’s encounter with the Orient. Originality: This article takes an all-inclusive view to discuss the term Occidentalism from the perspectives of both the Orient and the Occident. It teases out the limitations of this term. It challenges Orientalist methods of misrepresentation, which continues to blemish the Arab world and its discourse of Occidentalism as a discourse of hatred of the Occident. Furthermore, through the discussion of Alloula’s Oriental Harem, it offers insight into the suggested Occidentalism method, which emphasizes the disfigurations of the Orient while tactfully writing back to the Occident.

Questions for philosophical counselling

Human Affairs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanka Šulavíková
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Reasoning ◽  
Philosophical Counselling ◽  
The Third ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Classical Conception ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe article poses three questions relating to the self-definition of philosophical counselling: 1. Is it an alternative to psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches? 2. What is the therapeutic nature of philosophical counselling? 3. Is it contemplation or critical reasoning? The first part introduces some examples of the concepts that sharply distinguish philosophical counselling from psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches. It also considers those that mix these different approaches. The second part deals with the question of whether or not philosophical counselling can be considered to be a therapy. Some philosophical counsellors work on the belief that there is a synchrony between modern philosophical counselling and the classical conception of philosophy as therapy. Many, however, are of the opinion that it is not possible to speak of it in terms of therapy. The third part gives examples of the way in which philosophical counselling is understood to be contemplation and on the other hand of those who employ approaches based on critical thinking in philosophical counselling.

scholarly journals Confessione e biografia: per un avvenire fondato nella storia. Note a partire da Jacques Derrida e Jean-Luc Marion

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-74
Author(s):  
Francesca Peruzzotti
Keyword(s):  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Negative Theology ◽  
The Future ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

This paper aims to draw a connection between Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion in regard to the role of negative theology. This scrutiny shows meaningful contributions of the Authors to a new definition of subjectivity in a post-metaphysical age, and their consideration about which possibilities are still open for a non-predetermined history given outside of the presence domain. The future is neither a totalisation of history by its end, nor a simple continuation of the present. It is an eschatological event, where the relationship with the other plays a crucial role for the self-constitution. Such an interlacement is generated by the confession, where the link between past and future is not causally determined, but instead it is self-witness, as in Augustine’s masterpiece, essential reference for both the Authors

A Socratic Dialogue on the Question ‘What is Love in Nursing?

2000 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 481-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Les Fitzgerald ◽  
Stan van Hooft
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Duty Of Care ◽  
Socratic Dialogue ◽  
Risk Takers ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Moral Attitudes

It is the thesis of the authors that the caring ethic and moral state of being of nurses ideally suffuses their professional caring and is thus implicit in their ethical decision making. Socratic dialogue is a technique that allows such moral attitudes to be made explicit. This article describes a Socratic dialogue conducted with nurses on the topic: ‘What is love in nursing?’ The conclusions drawn were based on the belief that the current western-style health care system restricts the practice of nursing in such a way as to limit professional caring and loving possibilities. Nurses who love in the practice of caring go beyond the role definition of the duty of care; they are people who are prepared to think differently about their practice as professionals, and are identified as competent risk takers committed to the betterment of the other. From this dialogue, ‘love in nursing’ was understood as the willingness and commitment of the nurse to want the good of the other before the self, without reciprocity.

The Theater of Deviance and the Normative Boundaries of Society: Lessons from the Rabbinic Interpretations to the Biblical Law of Sotah

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-142
Author(s):  
Shivi Greenfield
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
The Other ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Distinct Structure ◽  
Unique Shape ◽  
Definition Of

A widely held view on the purpose of criminal law is that it is designed to maintain social order. Assuming this view to be correct, how does criminal law achieve its purpose? The standard answer is by deterring crimes through the threat of penalties, and by incapacitating or rehabilitating criminals so that they cannot or will not engage in future crimes. Sociologists, however, have a somewhat different answer: criminal law maintains social order by branding deviant behavior as criminal. Society, it is argued, is constructed through opposition and contrast: it creates and preserves its identity, its distinct structure and unique shape, by emphasizing the differences between its own characteristics and practices and the characteristics and practices of the Other, the deviant. Deviance, in this view, is essentially a relative phenomenon. The definition of deviance, which changes from era to era and from place to place, is just that characteristic which society designates to establish, through it and in contrast to it, its identity and boundaries. Whatever the society, the deviant in that society is one who “represents the forces excluded by the group's boundaries,” informing society “as it were, what the evil looks like, what shapes the evil can assume.” In doing so, the deviant shows society “the differences between kinds of experience which belong within the group and kinds of experience which belong outside it.”

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