Feminist ethical ontology

Contesting ‘the bare givenness of intersubjectivity

Bibliographic Data

ID4367485
AuthorsJanet Borgerson (0009-0004-7892-5123, Brown University/Stockholm University, corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume2
Issue2
Pages173-187
Publication date2001-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-7001 • E-ISSN: 1741-2773
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/14647000122229460
OpenAlexW2153182780
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited20

Philosophers exploring the ethical implications of closeness, or 'given intersubjectivity', favor an essential human predicament over an essential sexual dualism to explain their positions on responsibility for and response to the Other. This article proposes a feminist ethical ontology that rejects an essentialist base, turning instead to semiotics as a tool for describing the condition of human agency in a context of oppression. The discussion attends to the problems of downplaying the importance of difference and of blurring the distinction between necessary and accidental actions and occurrences. In challenging the contention that response to the Other is beyond the realm of choice and will, this article considers the ethical implications in how this givenness substantiates inequality and gendered embodiment. The effects of hierarchical ontological dualism should not be ignored or misconstrued in an effort to isolate the definitive nature of human response

Agency (philosophy) · Context (archaeology) · Dualism · Epistemology · Essentialism · Intersubjectivity · Ontology · Oppression · Political science · Realm · Situated · Sociology · Computer Science · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Philosophy

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