Overview
- The first book to examine Stoicism from the point of view of gender
- Brings gender from the margins into the center of philosophical inquiry, and casts new light on many familiar Stoic texts as well as may less-studied ones
- Focuses on the intimacy of sexual relations and close human bonds, thereby challenging the traditional characterization of the Stoics as an utterly unemotional and detached
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About this book
This book investigates the Ancient Stoic thinkers’ views on gender and sexuality. A detailed scrutiny of metaphysics, ethics and political philosophy reveals that the Stoic philosophers held an exceptionally equal view of men and women’s rational capacities. In its own time, Stoicism was frequently called ‘ the manly school’ of philosophy, but this volume shows that the Stoics would have also transformed many traditional notions of masculinity. Malin Grahn-Wilder compares the earlier philosophies of Plato and Aristotle to show that the Stoic position often stands out within Ancient philosophy as an exceptionally bold defense of women’s possibilities to achieve the highest form of wisdom and happiness. The work argues that the Stoic metaphysical notion of human being is based on strikingly egalitarian premises, and opens new perspectives to Stoic philosophy on the whole.
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Keywords
Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Body: Gender From Generation to Decoration
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Front Matter
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Character: Education of Gender and Therapy of Sexuality
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Front Matter
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Community: Marriage, Family, and Human Bonding
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“Malin Grahn-Wilder's Gender and Sexuality in Stoic Philosophy is an excellent book that provides an even better reason to teach the ancient Stoics. … This is a book that students in philosophy, classics, history, literature, sociology, and religious studies could read, and each would find it useful and enjoyable. Malin Grahn-Wilder has done a huge favor to all of us who teach ancient Greek and Roman philosophy.” (David O'Hara, Hypatia Reviews Online, 2020) “Malin Grahn-Wilder's Gender and Sexuality in Stoic Philosophy brings together Stoic ideas on gender and sexuality in biology and metaphysics, and relates them brilliantly to their positions on living well and on personal self-presentation. In the course of this we find fresh thoughts about a wide range of Stoic topics such as erotic love, the sage, education and cosmopolitanism. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Stoicism and ancient philosophy, as well as feminism and gender studies.” (Julia Annas, University of Arizona, USA)
“One of Grahn-Wilder's accomplishments is to follow her chosen thematic not only through various central areas of philosophy, but also within Stoic understanding of the every-day life and human existence, approaching even those with a philosophical mind. She weaves a rich, connected whole from sources both generally recognized as significant, as well as those from the surface more marginal.” (Pauliina Remes, Uppsala University, Sweden)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Malin Grahn-Wilder is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä and a teacher of gender studies at the University of Helsinki. She worked on this book while she was a visiting scholar at the Columbia University in the City of New York in 2016. She has formerly published articles on Ancient philosophy and gender in several anthologies, and she also works professionally as a dancer and dance educator.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Gender and Sexuality in Stoic Philosophy
Authors: Malin Grahn-Wilder
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53694-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-53693-4Published: 02 March 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09608-3Published: 19 December 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-53694-1Published: 21 February 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVI, 307
Topics: Feminism, Gender Studies, Religion and Gender