Brindley, Nicholas (1993) The gender of ethics : sexual and moral identity in Rousseau, Freud, and Kierkegaard. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis argues that questions of ethical life,
moral identity, and gender are inextricably involved,
and that an appropriate conception of each is
necessary for the thinking of the others. In
particular it seeks to demonstrate that the way in
which freedom is conceived in its relation to moral
identity and ethical life has profound implications
for the thought of gender relations. It is further
argued that the writings of Kierkegaard open up a way
of relating freedom and the finite that offers the
possibility of re-thinking gender.
The writings of Rousseau and of Freud are examined to
show the interdependence of their philosophical
anthropology and the systematic subordination and
exclusion of women that operates in each of them. In
each case it is shown that, despite the very
different, and even opposed ways that they construe
the nature of moral identity and its relation to
ethical life, a parallel gender polarity is at work.
In Rousseau male moral identity rests on independence
from society and infinite, excessive freedom. This is
brought into relation to the mundane world of ethical
life through gender. Women are denied independence
and moral identity and made responsible for social
being. Their subordination is such that dependence on
them does not destroy the integrity of men. The
crisis of this unstable structure is demonstrated
through a reading of Rousseau's novel La Nouvelle
Heloise, the death of whose heroine is shown to be
the moment of collapse of the Rousseauean synthesis.
In Freud moral identity is achieved through the
identification of the self with social authority. The
finite freedom that can be thought in psychoanalysis
rests on a fusion of ethical and moral life. The
"depersonalisation" of the super-ego is the road to
liberation. Through the gendered experience of the
Oedipal drama this path can only be taken by men.
Woman are again exclude from moral identity, being
allowed only a "masochistic" relation to the Law. The
crisis of this structure is found in the notion of
the "archaic heritage", which it is argued,
represents a collapse of Freudian thought.
Finally both Freud and Rousseau are brought into
relation with the psychological writings of
Kierkegaard, whose distinctive notion of freedom and
faith is held to address the limitations of both sets
of writing. Infinite freedom is made to co-exist with
finitude. The implications of these writings for the
thought of gender is briefly explored through other
of the writings of Kierkegaard.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Ethics, Sex role, Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778, Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939, Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813-1855
Official Date:	April 1993
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	330 leaves
Language:	eng

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