Naomi Scheman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780195395112
- eISBN:
- 9780190267483
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195395112.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter deconstructs the privileged subjectivity inherent in social “norms of selfhood,” by decentralizing paradigmatic definitions of sex, gender, race, and religion. Heterosexuality and ...
More
This chapter deconstructs the privileged subjectivity inherent in social “norms of selfhood,” by decentralizing paradigmatic definitions of sex, gender, race, and religion. Heterosexuality and Christianity are upheld as pinnacles of morality at the expense of other beliefs and practices, disregarding what would be considered “normal” for those marginalized groups. To rectify this, the author suggests employing a Wittgensteinian “confusion” in order to better comprehend the context—by understanding the “unintelligible” nature and perspectives of the marginalized, in order to appreciate the history and normativity particular to each group and come to a proper sense of unity.Less
This chapter deconstructs the privileged subjectivity inherent in social “norms of selfhood,” by decentralizing paradigmatic definitions of sex, gender, race, and religion. Heterosexuality and Christianity are upheld as pinnacles of morality at the expense of other beliefs and practices, disregarding what would be considered “normal” for those marginalized groups. To rectify this, the author suggests employing a Wittgensteinian “confusion” in order to better comprehend the context—by understanding the “unintelligible” nature and perspectives of the marginalized, in order to appreciate the history and normativity particular to each group and come to a proper sense of unity.
Naomi Scheman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780195395112
- eISBN:
- 9780190267483
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195395112.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter examines the limits of philosophy and why it is not possible to discover every single “truth” of reality given the tension between needs versus demands. Philosophy unfortunately cannot ...
More
This chapter examines the limits of philosophy and why it is not possible to discover every single “truth” of reality given the tension between needs versus demands. Philosophy unfortunately cannot address the demands placed upon it, as it has been decontextualized in the historical and political sense. Moreover, there are the problems of privileged subjectivity, fixed moral standards that can apply objectively to all (or lack thereof), and the nature of reality. Most philosophers also come from a relatively enfranchised background, and this alone can color their definition of the “real need” of the marginalized.Less
This chapter examines the limits of philosophy and why it is not possible to discover every single “truth” of reality given the tension between needs versus demands. Philosophy unfortunately cannot address the demands placed upon it, as it has been decontextualized in the historical and political sense. Moreover, there are the problems of privileged subjectivity, fixed moral standards that can apply objectively to all (or lack thereof), and the nature of reality. Most philosophers also come from a relatively enfranchised background, and this alone can color their definition of the “real need” of the marginalized.
