Luce Irigaray and the Philosophy of Sexual Difference

262 Pages·2006·2.19 MB·English

by  Alison Stone

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LuceIrigarayandthePhilosophyofSexualDifference
This book offers a feminist defence of the idea that sexual differ-
ence is natural. Providing a new interpretation of the later philoso-
phyofLuceIrigaray,AlisonStonedefendsIrigaray’suniqueformof
essentialism and her rethinking of the relationship between nature
and culture. She also shows how Irigaray’s ideas can be reconciled
with Judith Butler’s performative conception of gender by rethink-
ingsexualdifferenceinrelationtoGermanRomanticphilosophies
ofnature.Thisisthefirstsustainedattempttoconnectfeministcon-
ceptionsofembodimenttoGermanIdealistandRomanticaccounts
of nature. Not merely an interpretation of Irigaray, this book also
presents an original feminist perspective on nature and the body.
It will encourage debate on the relations among sexual difference,
essentialism,andembodiment.
Alison Stone is Lecturer in Philosophy at Lancaster University and
theauthorofPetrifiedIntelligence:NatureinHegel’sPhilosophy(2004).
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Luce Irigaray and the Philosophy
of Sexual Difference
ALISON STONE
LancasterUniversity
iii
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521862707
©AlisonStone2006
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
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without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006
isbn-13 978-0-511-22018-0 eBook(EBL)
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eBook(EBL)
isbn-13 978-0-521-86270-7 hardback
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forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
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Contents
Acknowledgements page vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
LuceIrigarayandtheNatureofSexualDifference 1
1 RereadingIrigaray:RealismandSexualDifference 18
I. EarlyCriticismsofIrigaray’sEssentialism 21
II. ReadingIrigarayasaPoliticalEssentialist 25
III. GoingBeyondPoliticalEssentialism:Irigaray’sConceptionof
Self-ExpressiveBodies 33
IV. RealismandSexualDifferenceinIrigaray’sLaterWork 42
V. ProblemswithIrigaray’sLaterPhilosophy 44
2 JudithButler’sChallengetoIrigaray 52
I. ButlerontheCulturalFormationofBodies 55
II. Butler’sHistoricalUnderstandingofGender 65
III. Butler’sPoliticsofSubversion 71
IV. RevisingButler:TheMultiplicityofBodilyForces 77
V. ButlerorIrigaray? 84
3 Nature,SexualDuality,andBodilyMultiplicity 87
I. Irigaray’sPhilosophyofNature 88
II. TheOntologicalStatusofSexualDifference 93
III. SexualDifferenceBetweenRhythms 99
IV. Nature,Biology,andEssence 104
V. IntersexedBodies 113
VI. TowardsaReconciliationofDualityandMultiplicity 121
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vi Contents
4 IrigarayandHo¨lderlinontheRelationBetweenNature
andCulture 127
I. NatureandtheImmutabilityofCulture 129
II. NatureandCultureinIrigaray’sThinkingtheDifference 132
III. Ho¨lderlin,Nature,andHumanity 138
IV. HeideggerandIrigarayonNatureandHumanity 144
V. ThePlaceofNatureintheCultureofSexualDifference 149
VI. RetrievingHo¨lderlin’sConceptofSelf-DifferentiatingNature 154
5 IrigarayandHegelontheRelationBetweenFamily
andState 161
I. Hegel’sAccountofAncientGreekSociety 165
II. Irigaray’sReinterpretationoftheConflictBetweenPolis
andFamily 169
III. Irigaray’sCriticismsofHegelontheModernState 174
IV. LawandtheEducationofNaturalDesires 179
V. EvaluatingIrigaray’sPoliticalProposals 188
6 FromSexualDifferencetoSelf-DifferentiatingNature 193
I. Schelling’sPhilosophyofNature 197
II. Productivity,Inhibition,andSexualDifferentiation 205
III. Irigaray’sPoliticsRevisited:MultiplicityandMulticulturalism 215
IV. RethinkingIrigaray’sPolitics:Self-CriticalSexuateCulture 219
Conclusion 224
ReconcilingDualityandMultiplicity 224
Bibliography 231
Index 241
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Acknowledgements
I am grateful to many people who have helped me in writing this
book.Firstly,IthanktheLeverhulmeTrust,whoawardedmeaResearch
Fellowship which enabled me to complete the book. Secondly, I thank
my colleagues in the Institute for Environment, Philosophy, and Public
PolicyatLancasterUniversity(nowtheInstituteforPhilosophyandPub-
lic Policy) for providing a stimulating and supportive environment for
carryingoutthisresearch.
I thank all those who have commented on chapters or sections of
this book at various stages: these include Emily Brady, Andrew Chitty,
Sarah Cooper, Paul Davies, Simon Gillham, Susan James, Rachel Jones,
Clare Palmer, Stella Sandford, Andrew Sayer, and John Varty. Kimberly
Hutchings, Susan James, and John O’Neill have been encouraging and
supportive of the project and have provided valuable advice. Many oth-
ershaverespondedhelpfullytopapers,basedonchaptersofthebook,
presentedtothePhilosophydepartmentsattheUniversitiesofDundee,
Durham,Glasgow,andLancaster,andtotheHistoryofPhilosophysem-
inarattheInstituteforHistoricalResearch.Iamparticularlygratefulto
theanonymousrefereesforCambridgeUniversityPress,fromwhosesug-
gestionsandcommentsIhavebenefitedgreatly.Ialsothankmyeditorat
CambridgeUniversityPress,BeatriceRehl,forhersupportofthisproject.
Earlier versions of parts of this book have been published as journal
articles.AnearlierversionofsomeofChapter1appearedas‘FromPoliti-
caltoRealistEssentialism:RereadingLuceIrigaray’,inFeministTheory5:1
(2004),pp.5–23.PartsofChapter2appearedin‘TowardsaGenealogical
Feminism:AReadingofJudithButler’sPoliticalThought’,inContempo-
rary Political Theory 4: 1 (2005), pp. 4–24. Chapter 3 draws on material
vii
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viii Acknowledgements
from ‘The Sex of Nature: A Reinterpretation of Irigaray’s Metaphysics
and Political Thought’, in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 18: 3
(2003),pp.60–84.AnearlierversionofpartofChapter4waspublished
as‘IrigarayandHo¨lderlinontheRelationBetweenNatureandCulture’,
inContinentalPhilosophyReview36:4(2003),pp.415–32.Anearlierver-
sion of part of Chapter 5 appeared in ‘Sexing the State: Familial and
Political Form in Irigaray and Hegel’, in Radical Philosophy 113 (2002),
pp.24–36.
Finally,myspecialthankstoJohnVartyforhiscareandsupport.