Continental Philosophy in Feminist Perspective

"We translate what American women write, they never translate our texts," wrote Helene Cixous almost two decades ago. Her complaint about the unavailability of French feminist writing in English has long since been rectified, but the situation for feminist writing by German-speaking philosophers remains today what it was then. This pioneering collection takes a giant step forward to overcoming this handicap, revealing the full richness and variety of feminist critique ongoing in this linguistic community. The essays offer fresh readings of thinkers from the Enlightenment to the present, including those often discussed by feminists everywhere—such as Freud, Habermas, Hegel, Kant, and Rousseau—as well as some less subjected to feminist critique such as Benjamin and Weininger.

In their Introduction the editors provide the context for understanding both how these essays fit into the larger picture of developing feminist theory and what makes their contribution in some ways distinctive.

“Herta Nagl-Docekal’s and Cornelia Klinger’s long-awaited anthology brings together in translation some of the leading feminist philosophers in the German-speaking countries. Despite the increasing ‘internationalization’ of feminist philosophy, in fact it is Anglo-American and French feminists who have won the battles for translation. This book is an important counterbalance to this tendency, and another step toward creating an international dialogue among feminist philosophers. The articles exemplify the strengths derived from a critical engagement with German philosophy. They reflect critically both on canonical texts in Western philosophy, as well as on positions that have become canonical in feminist philosophy.”—Robin Schott, University of Copenhagen

Cornelia Klinger is a Permanent Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.

Herta Nagl-Dockal is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vienna.

Literary Studies

Philosophy

           Feminist