- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (July 1 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0226748677
- ISBN-13: 978-0226748672
- Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 1.6 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 481 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,034,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“Sengoopta presents a learned, modest and sensible account of Weininger’s major work. . . . It is a major contribution to the literature on this extraordinary icon of early twentieth-century Vienna.”
“[This] study contributes to our understanding of Weininger by locating him more precisely in the context of late nineteenth-century medicine and biology. Sengoopta clarifies the historical standard—especially scientific, but also moral—against which to read Weininger, and he makes this peculiar writer comprehensible by providing a realistic sense of his scientific frame of reference.”—David S. Luft, Central European History
“[Sengoopta] takes Weininger’s scientific interests seriously, and in a series of finely crafted readings locates Weininger’s concerns within a constellation of fields ranging from experimental psychology to research on sex glands, and the study of homosexuality.”—Andreas Killen, German-Studies Review
“Sengoopta, in his highly informative study, convincingly shows that Geschlecht und Charakter is a ‘serious, comprehensive, and emotionally charged ideological critique of modernity in general and of women’s emancipation in particular.’”—Volker Depkat, H-Net Reviews
“Sengoopta has done something I would have considered impossible: he convinced me, by tracing the roots of Weininger’s thought, that it was worthwhile to read his book about a man I had considered unworthy of serious study. . . . I would hazard the conclusion that, despite his rabidness, Weininger articulated some main currents of thought . . . and that his work is relevant today as a jumping off point for explorations of issues that still concern us.”—Hannah S. Decker, ISIS
Product Description
Turn-of-the century Vienna is remembered as an aesthetic, erotic, and intellectual world: the birthplace of Freud and psychoanalysis, the waltz, and novels of Schnitzler. The contexts of this cultural vibrancy, Chandak Sengoopta argues, were darker and more complex than we might imagine.
This provocative, enlightening study explores the milieu in which the philosopher Otto Weininger (1880-1903) wrote his controversial book Sex and Character. Shortly after its publication, Weininger committed suicide at the age of twenty-three. His book, which argued that women and Jews were mere sexual beings who lacked individuality, became a bestseller.
Hailed as a genius by intellectuals such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Kraus, Weininger was admired, not for his prejudices, but for his engagement with the central issues of the time—the nature and meanings of identity. Sengoopta pays particular attention to how Weininger appropriated scientific language and data to defend his views and examines the scientific theories themselves.
This provocative, enlightening study explores the milieu in which the philosopher Otto Weininger (1880-1903) wrote his controversial book Sex and Character. Shortly after its publication, Weininger committed suicide at the age of twenty-three. His book, which argued that women and Jews were mere sexual beings who lacked individuality, became a bestseller.
Hailed as a genius by intellectuals such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Kraus, Weininger was admired, not for his prejudices, but for his engagement with the central issues of the time—the nature and meanings of identity. Sengoopta pays particular attention to how Weininger appropriated scientific language and data to defend his views and examines the scientific theories themselves.
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Otto Weininger (1880-1903) is a notorious figure in modern European history. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Otto Weininger (1880-1903) is a notorious figure in modern European history. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still unaccounted for...,
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This review is from: Otto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna (Hardcover)
"The genius is not the product of his age, is not to be explained by it, and we do him no honour if we attempt to account for him by it." -- Otto Weininger, Sex and Character, Part II, Chap 5. ...but explain him by his age is exactly what Sengoopta tries to do for Weininger. The book helps to situate Weininger in the scientific millieu of his time, as the Harrowitz and Hyams collection (-Jews and Gender: Responses to Otto Weininger-) earlier tried to do against a literary backdrop, and though we are grateful for these efforts, both fail to come terms with the seriousness of Weininger's philosophy. They repeat many of the usual dismissive assessments, either by trying to explain him as an unpleasant social phenomenon or personal pathology. We are still waiting for a genuinely philosophical exposition of Weininger's importance to moral philosophy in general and gender-based moral theories, in particular. We strongly suspect, for example, that radical feminism will one day discover a curious allegiance with Weininger. (Janik's -Essays on Wittgenstein and Weininger- in places, however, hints in a more thoughtful direction.)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 6 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still unaccounted for...,
By V. Munoz "vmunoz" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Otto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna (Hardcover)
"The genius is not the product of his age, is not to be explained by it, and we do him no honour if we attempt to account for him by it." -- Otto Weininger, Sex and Character, Part II, Chap 5. ...but explain him by his age is exactly what Sengoopta tries to do for Weininger. The book helps to situate Weininger in the scientific millieu of his time, as the Harrowitz and Hyams collection (-Jews and Gender: Responses to Otto Weininger-) earlier tried to do against a literary backdrop, and though we are grateful for these efforts, both fail to come terms with the seriousness of Weininger's philosophy. They repeat many of the usual dismissive assessments, either by trying to explain him as an unpleasant social phenomenon or personal pathology. We are still waiting for a genuinely philosophical exposition of Weininger's importance to moral philosophy in general and gender-based moral theories, in particular. We strongly suspect, for example, that radical feminism will one day discover a curious allegiance with Weininger. (Janik's -Essays on Wittgenstein and Weininger- in places, however, hints in a more thoughtful direction.) 3 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
A poor quality work redeemed by its topic,
By Blik "Blik" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Otto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna (Hardcover)
This book is a PhD written about another man's PhD thesis. Otto Weininger's thesis is original and interesting, whether you agree with its theories or not. This one has a sneering tone, and has little originality. I gave it two stars because the topic Sengoopta picked is good.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disagree with previous review,
By TheConsumer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Otto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna (Hardcover)
In an earlier review, a reader noted, "Sengoopta believes since Weininger's father was antisemitic that it is doubtful Weininger had any Jewish idenity to start with."I'm sure Weininger had a Jewish identity; that it was linked very early on with shame propelled him to write his awful gobbledygook. Self-hatred can be part of an identity as well, and we would all do well to remember that. If we don't know that, let's learn. |
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