Während weibliche Kapitalverbrechen spätestens seit Beginn der Neuzeit immer wieder Aufsehen erregten, blieb weibliche Gewaltkriminalität in statistischen Betrachtungen lange Zeit eine Randerscheinung. Auch die Forensik mit ihren traditionellen Kerndisziplinen Psychiatrie und Recht fokussierte in Analyse und Theoriebildung jenseits des Kindsmords lange auf den gefährlichen männlichen Täter: Männliche Forensiker analysierten männliche Gewalttäter. Seit den 1960er Jahren finden sich in der Bundesrepublik zunehmend wissenschaftliche Beiträge zu weiblicher Kriminalität und deren Ursachen. Auch Frauen analysierten jetzt – in professioneller und gesellschaftskritischer Perspektive – weibliche (...) Kriminalität; eine Entwicklung, die mit der Neuen Frauenbewegung und der Kritischen Kriminologie deutlich an Dynamik gewann. Der Beitrag legt den Fokus auf den Diskurs über weibliche Gewaltkriminalität in der „alten“ Bundesrepublik. Er fragt zunächst nach der Thematisierung von weiblicher Gewaltkriminalität im kriminologischen Diskurs. Untersucht wird vor diesem Hintergrund, wie sich geschlechtsspezifische Konstruktionen von Kriminalität speziell in der Auseinandersetzung mit der „gefährlich Geisteskranken“ in forensischen Diskussionsforen entwickelten, ob und wenn ja welche Topoi fortgeschrieben wurden und welche Topoi Veränderungen erfuhren. Unterschieden sich die Analysen weiblicher Wissenschaftlerinnen von denen ihrer männlichen Fachkollegen? Welche Bedeutung kam dabei kritischen beziehungsweise feministischen Strömungen und Akteur*innen zu? Angesichts gesellschaftlicher Veränderungsprozesse (Emanzipation, Psychiatriereform, Strafrechtsreform) fragt der Artikel nach der Deutung weiblicher Gewalt sowie dem Zusammenhang zwischen Geschlecht, Gefährlichkeit und psychischer Krankheit. Im Fokus steht die Frage nach der Beharrungskraft, Dynamisierung oder Diversifizierung geschlechtsspezifischer Konstruktionen und Normvorstellungen von normal/verrückt in der forensischen Zuspitzung von „gefährlich – krank“. (shrink)

Drawing from a wide array of disciplinary perspectives and geographical contexts, this volume offers new insights for critically engaging with the problem of vulnerability. The essays here contained take the move from the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to explore the inherent vulnerability of individuals, but also of social, economic and political systems, and probe the descriptive and prescriptive import of the concept.Each chapter provides a self-contained perspective on vulnerability, as well as a specific methodological framework for questioning its meaning. Taken (...) together, the chapters combine into a multi-disciplinary toolkit for approaching the various forms and structures of vulnerability, with a special attention to the intersectional factors shaping the individual experience of it: from gender to age, from disability to mental illness, from hospitalisation to incarceration. The book explores the theoretical richness and complexity of the concept and proposes new analytical approaches to it, before illustrating its multifariousness through empirically grounded case studies. The closing section engages with “the future of vulnerability”, as a hermeneutic, epistemological, and critical-normative perspective to be deployed beyond the domain of global crises and emergencies.The volume is primarily intended as a reference for scholars in the human, social and health sciences. The accessible structure and plain language of the chapters make it also a valuable didactic resource for graduate courses in philosophy, the social sciences and public health. (shrink)

Chantal Mouffe is one of the most influential political theorists at work today. Her work has influenced political parties across Europe and continues to inform the direction of left politics. In this work, Mouffe argues that liberal democracy misunderstands the problems of ethnic, religious and nationalist conflicts because of its inadequate conception of politics.

Revisiting the generally accepted notion of psycho-physical parallelism in Spinoza, Chantal Jaquet offers a new analysis of the relation between body and mind. Looking at a range of Spinoza's texts, and using an original methodology, she analyses their unity in action through affects, actions and passions.

Since September 11th, we frequently hear that political differences should be put aside: the real struggle is between good and evil. What does this mean for political and social life? Is there a 'Third Way' beyond left and right, and if so, should we fear or welcome it? This thought-provoking book by Chantal Mouffe, a globally recognized political author, presents a timely account of the current state of democracy, affording readers the most relevant and up-to-date information. Arguing that liberal (...) 'third way thinking' ignores fundamental, conflicting aspects of human nature, Mouffe states that, far from expanding democracy, globalization is undermining the combative and radical heart of democratic life. Going back first to Aristotle, she identifies the historical origins of the political and reflects on the Enlightenment, and the social contract, arguing that in spite of its good intentions, it levelled the radical core of political life. Contemporary examples, including the Iraq war, racism and the rise of the far right, are used to illustrate and support her theory that far from combating extremism, the quest for consensus politics undermines the ability to challenge it. These case studies are also highly effective points of reference for student revision. _On the Political _is a stimulating argument about the future of politics and addresses the most fundamental aspects of democracy that will aid further study. (shrink)

It would be difficult to find a more perceptive description of Western man and the world he now inhabits than that provided by Chantal Delsol in Icarus Fallen: The Search for Meaning in an Uncertain World . With style and lucidity, Delsol likens contemporary Western man to the mythical figure Icarus, fallen back to earth after trying to reach the sun, alive but badly shaken and confused. During the twentieth century, Delsol argues, man flew too closely to the sun (...) of utopian ideology. Having been burned, he is now groping for a way to orient himself. But the ideas he once held so dear--inevitable progress, the possibility of limitless social and self-transformation--are no longer believable, and he has, for the most part, long since rejected the religious tradition that might now have provided an anchor. Delsol's portrait is engrossing. She explains how we have come simultaneously to embrace the "good" but reject the "true"; how we have sacralized rights and democracy; and how we have lost our sense of the tragic and embraced the idea of "zero risk." Already a well-known political thinker in her native France, this is Delsol's first book to appear in English. Icarus Fallen should establish her as one of the most insightful social and cultural writers working on either side of the Atlantic. "This is simply the best book about the problems of modern man since Christopher Lasch's Culture of Narcissism . It is so crammed with truth and insight that, as someone once said of Chesterton, every line deserves a review." -- The American Conservative "An extensive evaluation of the pitfalls of modern times and the strict limits on human virtues, Icarus Fallen , is strongly recommended reading for students of 20th Century Philosophy, Politics, and History." -- Wisconsin Bookwatch. (shrink)

The themes of citizenship and community are today at the center of a fierce debate as both left and right try to mobilize them for their cause. For the left such notions are crucial in all the current attempts to redefine political struggle through extending and deepening democracy. But, argue the contributors to this volume, these concepts need to be made compatible with the pluralism that marks modern democracy. Rather than reject the liberal tradition, they argue, the aim should be (...) to radicalize it. These essays set out to examine what types of “citizen” and “community” might be required by such a radical and plural democracy. From a range of disciplines and a fruitful diversity of theoretical perspectives, the contributors help us to address the following challenge: how to defend the greatest possible pluralism without destroying the very framework of the democratic political community. Despite their differences, a vision emerges from these essays which is sharply at odds both with the universalistic and rationalistic conception to be found in the work of Habermas, and with postmodern celebrations of absolute heterogeneity. For this book is an exploration of politics—of a politics where power, conflict and antagonism will always play a central role. (shrink)

Entretien réalisé par Chantale Mailhot avec Madeleine Akrich, ingénieure et sociologue, créatrice du cours « Controverses environnementales », et avec Liliana Doganova, chargée de recherche, cofondatrice – avec Brice Laurent, également chargé de recherche et ingénieur au corps des mines – de l’option « Affaires publiques et Innovation » à l’École des Mines de Paris.

Deconstruction and pragmatism constitute two of the major intellectual influences on the contemporary theoretical scene; influences personified in the work of Jacques Derrida and Richard Rorty. Both Rortian pragmatism, which draws the consequences of post-war developments in Anglo-American philosophy, and Derridian deconstruction, which extends and troubles the phonomenological and Heideggerian influence on the Continental tradition, have hitherto generally been viewed as mutually exclusive philosophical language games. The purpose of this volume is to bring deconstruction and pragmatism into critical confrontation with (...) one another through staging a debate between Derrida and Rorty, itself based on discussions that took place at the _College International de Philosophie_ in Paris in 1993. The ground for this debate is layed out in introductory papers by Simon Critchley and Ernesto Laclau, and the remainder of the volume records Derrida's and Rorty's responses to each other's work. Chantal Mouffe gives an overview of the stakes of this debate in a helpful preface. (shrink)

Although Wittgenstein is often held co-responsible for the so-called death of man as it was pronounced in the course of the previous century, no detailed description of his alternative to the traditional or Cartesian account of human being has so far been available. By consulting several parts of Wittgenstein's later oeuvre, Subjectivity after Wittgenstein aims to fill this gap. However, it also contributes to the debate about the Cartesian subject and its demise by discussing the criticism that the rethinking of (...) subjectivity received, for it has been argued that the anti-Cartesian turn in continental philosophy has lead to a loss of a centre for both ethics and politics. By further exploring the implications of the Wittgensteinian account of human being, this book makes it clear that a non-Cartesian view on the subject is not necessarily ethically and politically inert. Moreover, it argues that ethical and political arguments should not automatically take precedence in a debate about the nature of man. (shrink)

This paper is part of a larger project defending of the foundations of microeconomics against recent criticisms by philosophers. Here, we undermine one source of these criticisms, arising from philosophers' disappointment with the performance of microeconomic tools, in particular game theory, when these are applied to normative decision theory. Hollis and Sugden have recently articulated such disappointment in a sophisticated way, and have argued on the basis of it that the economic conception of rationality is inadequate. We argue, however, that (...) their claim rests upon a misunderstanding of the concept of a game as it is used in microeconomics. (shrink)

This book familiarizes the English-speaking reader with the debate on the originality of Gramsci’s thought and its importance for the development of Marxist theory. The contributors present the principal viewpoints regarding Gramsci’s theoretical contribution to Marxism, focussing in particular on his advances in the study of the superstructures, and discussing his relation to Marx and Lenin and his influence in Eurocommunism. Different interpretations are put forward concerning the elucidation of Gramsci’s key concepts, namely: hegemony, integral state, war of position and (...) passive revolution. (shrink)

De nombreux ouvrages - travaux historiques, mémoires, romans ou témoignages - évoquent la condition des Africaines en Afrique du Sud, qui représentent 70% de la population féminine et n'ont cessé de subir les manifestations de la discrimination et du sexisme. Le livre de Jacklyn Cock (1980) est une étude approfondie sur le statut social et économique des Africaines. Dès l'enfance la jeune fille est victime d'un préjudice qui détermine le reste de son existence. La famille puis l'école...

Comment adapter l’éthique journalistique aux réseaux sociaux ? Comment respecter son devoir de réserve sur les réseaux sociaux ? Faut-il respecter ce devoir de réserve même sur les réseaux sociaux ? Quelle transparence les journalistes doivent afficher sur les réseaux sociaux ? Cet article suggère des pistes de réflexion.

Peu de philosophes sont issus des classes sociales défavorisées. Proudhon et Michel Onfray sont donc une exception. Cette situation les rapproche d’autant plus qu’ils sont tous deux fiers de cette origine et qu’ils estiment que ce parcours exceptionnel leur donne des devoirs envers ce peuple dont ils sont issus. Ainsi, devenus des intellectuels célèbres, ils conservent une grande proximité avec leur milieu d’origine, tout en se gardant de toute démagogie. Leur préoccupation principale est donc la mise en pratique de la (...) « démopédie », néologisme créé par Proudhon : il s’agit de donner la parole au peuple, c’est-à-dire l’outil intellectuel nécessaire pour exprimer sa pensée et ses besoins. Le rôle d’un philosophe plébéien consiste donc à aider le peuple à réfléchir sur le fonctionnement de la société et de la démocratie, afin qu’il cesse d’être dominé par l’élite politique et économique. Dans ce but, le philosophe plébéien propose des pistes pour instaurer une véritable démocratie grâce au mutualisme, et au fédéralisme appliqué aussi bien dans la vie économique que dans la vie politique. (shrink)

L’assimilation des notions de bien et de mal par Spinoza à des modes de l’imagination est souvent comprise comme une critique radicale invalidant les valeurs morales. Dans cette optique l’auteur de l’Ethique apparaît comme le précurseur d’une philosophie par delà bien et mal. L’article s’inscrit en faux contre cette interprétation hâtive et met au jour la positivité des concepts de bien et du mal, en analysant les raisons pour lesquelles la critique spinoziste n’entraîne pas paradoxalement leur rejet mais leur conservation (...) au sein d’une éthique de la puissance. (shrink)

Nous sommes des êtres de chair, mais cette évidence s'obscurcit dès qu'il est question de déterminer l'étendue des aptitudes du corps et la nature de ses rapports avec l'esprit. Que peut au juste le corps? Telle est l'interrogation qui sous-tend depuis longtemps la réflexion philosophique et qui rend nécessaire aujourd'hui encore l'élaboration d'un " Connais-toi toi-même " corporel. Il importe alors d'examiner le corps à l'œuvre et d'explorer les diverses facettes de la corporéité pour en montrer la prodigieuse puissance. A (...) cet effet, il convient d'abord de cerner l'essence et la sphère d'extension de ce concept en épousant le mouvement qui, de l'inerte au vivant, des corps bruts au corps humain, préside à la constitution des multiples formes corporelles. Il s'agit ensuite de mesurer la puissance du corps à l'aune de ses capacités pratiques : puissance technique du corps en travail et au travail, puissance artistique et éthique du corps promoteur de valeurs, puissance sexuelle enfin qui nous enseigne de manière problématique aussi bien la différence entre nous et nous-mêmes - tant nous ne sommes pas ce que nous croyons être - que la différence entre le masculin et le féminin. Cet ouvrage est tout autant une méditation et une synthèse philosophiques qu'un hymne à la joie du corps. (shrink)

Communism or Radical Democracy ? It is the very idea of Communism that is to be questioned, insofar as it implies an anti-political view of society whereby all antagonisms would eventually be ruled out, and in which domination, the State, and all the other regulating institutions would be deprived of any relevance. Clearly, social divisions and antagonisms are socially constitutive. They demand or aspire to hegemonic order. In consequence, the substance of emancipation does not consist in reconciliation but in a (...) radical democracy, in the extension of democratic struggle to ever larger social fields. (shrink)

El dialeteísmo es la posición que afirma que hay contradicciones verdaderas. Este artículo versará sobre esa posición. En la primera sección, mencionaré los principales aportes que, en mi perspectiva, el dialeteísmo ha hecho a la lógica filosófica. En la segunda sección, analizaré el principal problema del dialeteísmo. En la tercera sección, mostraré que los argumentos a favor del dialeteísmo no llegan a establecer la verdad de esta posición. Finalmente, explicaré cuál es el tipo de paraconsistencia que considero adecuada y la (...) compararé con la posición dialeteísta. Dialetheism is the position which claims that there are true contradictions. This paper deals with this position. In the first section, I will mention the main contributions that, in my perspective, dialetheism has made to philosophical logic. In the second section, I will analyze the main problem of dialetheism. In the third section, I will show that the arguments in favor of dialetheism are not conclusive. Finally, I will explain which kind of paraconsistency I consider adequate, and I will compare it with the dialetheist position. (shrink)

Marie Chantal | : Cet article fait le point sur les travaux récents abordant le problème de l’utilisation des catégories modernes dans l’étude des traditions judéennes de l’Antiquité. La dernière décennie a en effet été marquée par la publication d’une série de recherches abordant d’abord le problème du concept moderne de « judaïsme » pour décrire une réalité antique portée par le grec Ioudaismos et se questionnant ensuite sur la façon juste de traduire Ioudaios pour respecter l’ethnicité du peuple (...) se réclamant de cette appellation. | : This paper provides a picture of the recent publications concerned with the problem of using modern categories for the study of ancient traditions from the Antiquity. In the last decade, many papers have been published first addressing the problem of the modern concept “Judaism” as a way to describe the Ancient reality related to the Greek term Ioudaismos, and second raising the question of the correct way to translate Ioudaios in respect with the ethnicity of the people related to this Greek term. (shrink)

Ce sont cent intellectuels de France et des quatre coins du monde que Chantal Delsol et Giulio De Ligio ont réunis ici pour une enquête sans précédent sur l'état planétaire de la démocratie.00À l'heure des isolationnismes, des autocraties et des populismes, qu'en est-il de la théorie et de la pratique de ce qui semblait hier encore le bien politique absolu, et le premier critère progressiste de l'ère moderne?00Embrassant de Washington à Beijing, de Dublin à Bucarest, sans oublier Bruxelles et (...) Paris, mais aussi l'Amérique du Sud ; détaillant les concepts et les idéologies ; décrivant les institutions et les pouvoirs, cette somme, savante, libre et engagée, répond à cette question cruciale.00Face à la tentation illibérale, un véritable ouvrage collectif de débat et un appel à la raison des peuples."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

In The Unlearned Lessons of the Twentieth Century , the sequel to Icarus Fallen, published by ISI Books in 2003, Chantal Delsol maintains that the age in which we live—late modernity—calls into question most of the truths and beliefs bequeathed to us from the past. Yet it clings to a central belief in the dignity of the human person, the cornerstone of the doctrine of universal human rights to which even secular Westerners still cling. At the same time, the (...) process of dehumanization so evident in the ideologies and totalitarianism of the twentieth century remains at work. Delsol charges that it is not enough to proclaim human rights as a sort of incantation but that, rather, one must understand what sort of being the human person is if humans are to be genuinely respected. In other words, if the philosophy of human rights is to form the basis of Western culture, it must rest on a truer understanding of the human person than that which is taught—both explicitly and implicitly—in the contemporary West. (shrink)

Political conflict in our society is inevitable, and the results are often far from negative. How then should we deal with the intractable differences arising from complex modern culture? Developing her groundbreaking political philosophy of agnostics--the search for a radical and plural democracy--Chantal Mouffe examines international relations, strategies for radical politics, the future of Europe and the politics of artistic practices. She shows that in many circumstances where no alternatives seem possible, agonistics offers a new road map for change. (...) Engaging with cosmopolitanism, post-operaism, and theories of multiple modernities she argues in favor of a multipolar world with a real cultural and political pluralism. -- Publisher's website. (shrink)

The development of the new means of communication and the overwhelming presence of the media in all realms of life represent a challenge for democratic politics. In this presentation I want to argue that such a challenge can only be grasped and met by discarding the rationalist perspective dominant in liberal democratic political thought. Indeed, such a perspective impedes us from acknowledging the nature of the political struggle and the centrality of symbols in the construction of political identities.As the recent (...) growth of right-wing populist movements testifies, new political identities are currently being created and there is no doubt that the media are playing an important role in their diffusion. It would be a serious mistake however to present the media as the main culprit, and to see such movements as a consequence of `media politics'. The success of those movements would not be possible without a political rhetoric that managed to mobilize a wide range of signifiers. Had it not been able to articulate those signifiers into a chain of equivalence against the existing order, right-wing populism could not have made such important inroads in several European countries.From a theoretical point of view, what this reveals is the utter irrelevance of the rationalist approach to politics and the importance of the so-called `post-modern approach'. It shows that, despite what authors like Habermas pretend, the critique of Enlightenment rationalism does not constitute a threat to the modern democratic project. On the contrary, it is only by taking account of such a critique that it is possible to defend and deepen democratic institutions. If there is anything that endangers democracy nowadays, it is precisely the rationalist approach, because it is blind to the nature of the political and denies the central role that passions play in the field of politics. Only by drawing out all the implications of the critique of essentialism will it be possible to understand the process of construction of collective political identities and their discursive mode of articulation. (shrink)

I agree with the critique of rationalism proposed by Spinosa, Flores, and Dreyfus in ?Disclosing New Worlds?. Today the defence of democracy requires us to understand that allegiance to democratic institutions can only rest on identification with the practices, the language?games, and the discourses which are constitutive of the democratic ?form of life?, and that it is not a question of providing them with a rational justification. My comments are developed in two directions. First, as a development of their thesis (...) concerning the centrality of practices, I suggest that in order to grasp the present crisis of democratic forms of individuality we can learn a lot from Nietzsche's analysis of ?nihilism?. Second, I point to a dimension which I consider to be missing in the perspective put forward in the article. It fails to take account of the fact that the constitution of a ?we? always requires the determination of a ?them?. This, in my view, has important consequences for the relation between solidarity and politics. I conclude by arguing for the need to introduce an agonistic element in the view of solidarity, and for the crucial role of the category of the adversary in a pluralist democracy whose aim is to transform antagonism into agonism. (shrink)

One of the main reasons that liberal democratic societies are not ill-prepared to confront the present challenge presented by disaffection with democratic institutions, is that the type of political theory currently in vogue is dominated by an individualistic, universalistic, and rationalistic framework. This erases the dimension of the political and impedes envisaging in an adequate manner the nature of a pluralistic democratic public sphere. This paper examines the most recent paradigm of liberal democracy: 'deliberative democracy', in order to bring to (...) the fore its shortcomings. Then, the authos puts forward some element for the elaboration of an alternative model that she proposes to call 'agonistic pluralism'. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Lily of the Valley, or Love as Breathing in the ScentChantal Jaquet (bio)The Lily of the Valley, published by Balzac in 1836, can be considered as a standard in olfactory literature since the novel is entirely built on the perception of odors and the central role of breathing in romantic relationships. As the title indicates, it is in the floral and olfactory registers that the essence of love (...) expresses itself. Perfume presides over the birth of love, the recognition of the other, and the definition of the woman's identity. We can read it as a poetics of breathing that tells another story and re-enchants the world. The Lily of the Valley offers a powerful antidote to the impediments to breathing nowadays. I try here to interpret it like an ode celebrating another way of inhaling the world through love and perfumes.Love at first scentThe Lily of the Valley tells the story of the platonic love of a young man, Felix, for a married woman, Madame de Mortsauf. From the beginning, their first meeting takes place under the auspices of breath and perfume. During a party, Felix, who is extremely bored, finds refuge on an abandoned bench; a woman, taking him for a child, sits next to him. Felix is then immediately drawn to the stranger's perfume and is pulled out of his sullen torpor to feel an unparalleled fascination:Immediately, I smelt a woman's fragrance which shone in my soul as oriental poetry was to shine later. I looked at my neighbour and was more dazzled by her than I had been by the ball.(15)Perfume thus triggers love and becomes the very essence of the beloved woman. Before he perceives any visual detail, Felix is flooded with an olfactory emotion, which will be taken over and amplified by the poetic evocation of the Orient and its fragrances. The woman's scent, which re-enchants his morose universe, dazzles him with its brilliance and eclipses vision by taking possession of its attributes. It is only afterward that he begins to examine the shoulders, bosom, and hair of the woman with the luminous perfume. It is the act of inhaling her perfume that triggers his [End Page 34] love at first sight and wrests the following confession from him: "All of a sudden, I was in love" (16).This primacy of olfaction and breathing continue to hold true in the absence of the beloved when the latter is no longer smelled, but simply evoked: "At the thought that my queen-elect lived in Touraine I breathed the air with delight [...]" (16). The feelings that develop even before a second meeting takes place do not belie the first romantic olfactory sensation, but strengthen it following a process of crystallization that transforms the soulmate into a fragrant flower. The stranger, under the influence of Felix's poetic imagination, becomes the lily of the valley, a symbol of beauty and purity. Despondent over the disappearance of the woman he loves, whose name he does not even know, the young man, pressured by his family to seek distraction, travels to Touraine, to the Château de Frapesle, to stay with a friend of his mother's. He discovers a magnificent valley near Montbazon, which, in his eyes, can only be where his beloved resides. Here we see the perspicacity of the lover who picks up the scent of his beloved and sees her face in the landscape:She lived there. My heart had not misled me. [...] She was, as you already know, though you know nothing yet, THE LILY OF THIS VALLEY, where she grew for Heaven, filling it with the perfume of her virtues.(18)The olfactory dimension of the lily prevails here over floral vision. It is the perfume of her virtues exhaled in the valley that defines the beloved permanently and immemorially, and makes her into a celestial creature with the odor of sanctity. The use of the imperfect tense in "she was the lily" evokes the magic of a love story that seems like a fairy tale. She was the lily, because once upon a time there was a woman who... (shrink)

A significant part of Wittgenstein's later writings deal with psychological phenomena. Again and again he tries to show that thoughts, feelings, etc., cannot be understoodas objects or processes in some private inner realm. According to Wittgenstein the souldoes not reside inside of us, but should rather be located in between of us. Thus offering a new way of portraying several dichotomies (such as those between the inner and the outer, the public and the private, and the self and the other), (...) Wittgenstein can be said to rethink our concept of the subject. Or should we rather say that he proposes to reduce the soul to the body, the personal to the communal — in other words, that he in fact tries to 'unthink' subjectivity? To answer this question, this article confronts Wittgenstein's 'psychology' with his 'theology'. For contrary to what he writes on the psyche, Wittgenstein stresses in his writings on religion the individual instead of the collective and the private instead of the public. By showing that Wittgenstein's theology is actually compatible with his psychology, it is argued that Wittgenstein cannot besaid to proclaim the 'death' of the subject. (shrink)

Although Wittgenstein is famously skeptical about the possibility of making substantial philosophical claims, he can be said to offer significant insights into the difference between inner and outer as well as the difference between self and other.1 He consistently reminds us that inner and outer are intimately connected instead of only causally related, as well as that the self—far from being a wholly independent entity—always already finds itself constituted by its relationships with others. In thus contesting the Cartesian view on (...) subjectivity, however, Wittgenstein may appear to simply reduce the inner to the outer and the self to the other.. (shrink)