Mary Astell on the Social Nature of the Cartesian Passions

Scholars have long recognised that Mary Astell builds her feminist critique of society on a foundation of Cartesian views about human nature and the passions. At the same time, the full extent of the influence of Descartes’ view of embodiment on the solution Astell proposes in her Serious Proposal to the Ladies is only beginning to come to light. In this paper, I contribute to this ongoing project by arguing that Astell builds on Descartes’ ideas by addressing a blind spot in his view, namely, that that the embodied self is socially situated, and that therefore, our social context plays a crucial formative role in the development of our passions. In doing so, I show Astell extends Cartesian philosophy beyond an egalitarian feminist critique of society, but also to a positive political theory offering a solution to the problems she identifies. Thusly, Astell shows the political potential of Cartesian philosophy as a framework for social critique and to seek solutions to the problems such a critique can bring out.

Objectification and Domination

I resolve a tension between two prominent strands of feminist social critique. On the first, the domination of women consists largely in their objectification, and the objectifying character of such domination primarily explains why it is wrong. On the second, some salient forms of domination have a distinctively intersubjective dimension that makes them crucially unlike our standard modes of relating to objects. Yet in that case, how could characterizing these acts as objectifying capture why they are wrong? Focusing on domination that seeks recognition from the subordinate, I argue that each strand contains half the truth, weaving these together. The first is correct to point out that that the concept of objectification is necessary for capturing the wrong of recognition-seeking domination, and that acts can be objectifying and ‘subjectifying’ all at once. The second strand is right to insist that domination of this sort has an irreducibly subjectifying character in light of which the concept of objectification is insufficient for clarifying its wrongness. The general lesson is that an account of the wrong of recognition-seeking domination is adequate only if it does justice to both its objectifying and subjectifying aspects.

Mitos dan Banjir

Abstrak: Banjir besar melanda bumi Kalimantan Selatan pada awal Januari 2021. Pada saat yang sama, muncul mitos-mitos yang berhubungan dengan banjir besar ini. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguraikan mitos yang muncul pada saat banjir, menjelaskan hubungan antara banjir (lingkungan) dan mitos ini, dan mengungkap penyebab pengaruhnya kepada masyarakat. Ada beberapa tahapan dalam penelitian ini; Pertama, mendata mitos-mitos yang muncul pada saat banjir besar bulan Januari 2021; Kedua, menghubungkan dan mencari sumber mitos itu dari sastra lisan di Kalimantan Selatan. Ketiga, Mengungkapkan makna mitos tersebut. Keempat, menganalisis mitos-mitos dengan menggunakan teori ekokritik Garrard. Kelima, menghubungkan antara mitos dengan masyarakat serta pengaruh mitos itu dalam masyarakat. Ada dua mitos yang muncul pada saat banjir di Kalimantan Selatan, yaitu mitos naga dan mitos keladi. Mitos naga bersumber dari adanya cerita naga penunggu Sungai Barito dalam cerita Asal Mula Sungai Barito dan Sungai Amandit dalam cerita Legenda Lok Sinaga. Sementara itu, mitos keladi berkaitan dengan pamali yang dipercaya orang Banjar. Kedua mitos ini merefleksikan kebudayaan Banjar yang berkaitan dengan isu lingkungan. Mitos naga merupakan kritik sosial terhadap kondisi pegunungan Meratus yang sudah memprihatinkan akibat pertambangan dan perkebunan sawit, sedangkan mitos keladi merupakan kritik untuk bersikap adil terhadap hutan. Kedua mitos ini juga menunjukkan sikap urang Banjar yang tidak menyalahkan alam, lingkungan, dan cuaca, tetapi menyalahkan diri sendiri karena tidak mampu merawat alam.Kata kunci: mitos, naga, keladi, banjir, dan kerusakan lingkungan Abstract: A big flood hit South Kalimantan in early January 2021. At the same time, the myths related to this big flood came out. The research objectives are first, to describe the myths that came out during the flood, second, to explain the relationship between floods (environment) and these myths, the third, to reveal the causes of their effects on society. There are several stages in this research; First, to list the myths that emerged during the great flood in January 2021; Second, connecting and finding the source of the myth from oral literature in South Kalimantan. Third, revealing the meaning of the myth. Fourth, analyzing myths using Garrard's eco-critical theory. Fifth, connecting myths with society and the influence of these myths in society. Two myths emerged during the big flood in South Kalimantan, namely the dragon myth and the taro myth. The myth of the dragon comes from the story of the dragon guarding the Barito River in the origin story of the Barito River and the Amandit River in the Legend of Lok Sinaga. The taro myth relates to pamali believed by the Banjar people. These two myths reflect Banjar culture relates to environmental issues. The dragon myth is a social critique of the condition of the Meratus mountains, which is already alarming due to mining and oil palm plantations. Meanwhile, the taro myth is a criticism of being wise to the forest. These two myths also show the attitude of the Banjar people who do not blame nature, the environment, and the weather but blame themselves for ignorance of nature. Key word: myth, dragon, taro flood, and environmental damage

“Ignorance is strength”

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how Danish textual news satire constructs its social critique of the many Facebook users whose comments during COVID-19 imitate expert statements in disregard of authoritative health science statements. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, UNESCO has proclaimed a disinfodemic of emotive narrative constructs and pseudo-science on the internet and especially in social media. As with the ruling Party’s paradoxical slogan “ignorance is strength” in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, we sense a similar trend of the public disinfodemic, but studies of this paradox in satirical publications are scarce. Thus, the goal here is to scrutinize this enigma exemplified in an article in the Danish spoof news online media of RokokoPosten in which such experts are parodied in a kind of “doublethink” style which begs critical reflection on social media credibility. Hence, such textual news satire may potentially provide a vaccine against post-truth delusions of health science as it provides immunity against the disinfodemic by its own causative agents.

Never mind the city guides: The topos of a city in urban fantasy (with interpretative emphasis on Neil Gaiman’s novel Neverwhere)

The paper focuses on the phenomenon of urban fantasy with a particular interest in the topos of a city, which assumes great significance as a thematic and motivic element in the subgenre. The authors touch upon the relation between (sub)genre and topos/topoi in general, but also more specifically, between urban fantasy and the city, regarding the urban area as a distinct setting with a specific atmosphere, character or genius loci. Within this frame, the paper seeks to exemplify the aforementioned relations through an interpretative study of Neil Gaiman’s novel Neverwhere, which breathes life into the London underground scene. London Below comes to personify, literally, the vices of London Above via the use of anthropomorphic strategies. Moreover, the spatial peculiarities of the novel not only contribute to the creation of the fantastical atmosphere but they also function as a vehicle of social critique and a constitutive element of the protagonist’s transformation.