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Author Miller, Elaine P., 1962-

Title The vegetative soul : from philosophy of nature to subjectivity in the feminine / Elaine P. Miller
Published Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, ©2002

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 248 pages)
Series SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy
SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy.
Contents ""THE VEGETATIVE SOUL""; ""CONTENTS""; ""ACKNOWLEDGMENTS""; ""ABBREVIATIONS""; ""1. Works by Kant""; ""2. Works by Goethe""; ""3. Works by Hölderlin""; ""4. Works by Hegel""; ""5. Works by Nietzsche""; ""6. Other works""; ""INTRODUCTION""; ""1. KANT: The English Garden""; ""2. GOETHE: The Metamorphosis of Plants""; ""3. H�LDERLIN: Gleaning""; ""4. FIGURES OF PLANT VULNERABILITY: Empedocles and the Tragic Christ""; ""5. HEGEL: The Self-Sacrifice of the Innocent Plant""; ""6. NIETZSCHE: The Ivy and the Vine""
""Conclusion: DISSEMINATION, RHIZOMES, EFFLORESCENCE: The Legacy of the Vegetative Soul in Twentieth-Century Thought""""NOTES""; ""Introduction""; ""Chapter 1. Kant: The English Garden""; ""Chapter 2. Goethe: The Metamorphosis of Plants""; ""Chapter 3. Hölderlin: Gleaning""; ""Chapter 4. Figures of Plant Vulnerability: Empedocles and the Tragic Christ""; ""Chapter 5. Hegel: The Self-Sacrifice of the Innocent Plant""; ""Chapter 6. Nietzsche: The Ivy and the Vine""; ""Conclusion. Dissemination, Rhizomes, Efflorescence""; ""BIBLIOGRAPHY""; ""INDEX""; ""A""; ""B""; ""C""; ""D""; ""E""; ""F""
GH -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y
Summary "The Vegetative Soul demonstrates that one significant resource for the postmodern critique of subjectivity can be found in German Idealism and Romanticism, specifically in the philosophy of nature. Miller demonstrates that the perception of German Idealism and Romanticism as the culmination of the philosophy of the subject overlooks the nineteenth century critique of subjectivity with reference to the natural world. This book's contribution is its articulation of a plant-like subjectivity. The vision of the human being as plant combats the now familiar conception of the modern subject as atomistic, autonomous, and characterized primarily by its separability and freedom from nature. Reading Kant, Goethe, Holderlin, Hegel, and Nietzsche, Miller juxtaposes two strands of nineteenth-century German thought, comparing the more familiar "animal" understanding of individuation and subjectivity to an alternative "plantlike" one that emphasizes interdependence, vulnerability, and metamorphosis." "While providing the necessary historical context, the book also addresses a question that has been very important for recent feminist theory, especially French feminism, namely, the question of the possible configuration of a feminine subject. The idea of the "vegetative" subject takes the traditional alignment of the feminine with nature and the earth and subverts and transforms it into a positive possibility. Although the roots of this alternative conception of subjectivity can be found in Kant's third Critique and its legacy in nineteenth-century Naturphilosophie, the work of Luce Irigaray brings it to fruition."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-231) and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Philosophy of nature -- Germany -- History -- 18th century
Botany -- Germany -- History -- 18th century
Philosophy of nature -- Germany -- History -- 19th century
Botany -- Germany -- History -- 19th century
Feminist theory.
Subjectivity.
SCIENCE -- Cosmology.
Botany
Feminist theory
Philosophy of nature
Subjectivity
Naturphilosophie
Naturfilosofi -- Tyskland -- historia.
Botanik -- Tyskland -- historia.
Germany
Deutschland
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 0585479046
9780585479040
079145391X
9780791453919
0791453928
9780791453926
9780791488522
0791488527