In a previous post, Katy pondered what love might have to do with visiting other worlds. She partly landed on love as a way of preventing us from objectifying the other, to engage with others respectfully. I want to take that a little further. Katy admits that she is uncomfortable with the idea of love in politics. But I think love can be a kind of language that allows us to start thinking about politics. Visiting According to Hannah Arendt, visiting is the process of expanding our … [Read more...]
Visiting other worlds
On July 14, the prominent feminist philosopher María Lugones died. Lugones was one of the first feminist thinkers that I ever read. Her co-authored paper with Elizabeth Spelman, "'Have We Got a Theory for You!' Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism, and the Demand for the 'Woman's Voice," inspired my Master's thesis. Some of the questions that paper raises about coalition across cultural difference still press on me. In fact, Janet and I have a project about building solidarity within … [Read more...]
How book bingo changed my life
I might be slightly hyperbolic in asserting that book bingo changed my life. But it did reorient me in ways I didn't expect. The 2019 book bingo challenge Inspired by the Kitchener Public Library's book bingo in the summer of 2018, I decided to create a bingo card for my workplace. The challenge would run for the entire calendar year. Each colleague's leisure reading interests would be represented by at least one square on the bingo card. You'll notice that a few squares correspond to … [Read more...]
Poets for the animals
I've been thinking about story-telling and relationships with particular animals. Consider the following two snippets: Peter Singer doesn’t love animals In the preface to the 1975 edition of Animal Liberation, Peter Singer shares a story about a time he was invited to tea. He'd begun working on Animal Liberation. Much to the surprise of his host, Singer admitted that he isn't an animal lover (p. 9). Singer came to his theory of animal liberation through rational argument, not a relationship … [Read more...]
Empathy and altruism in surrogacy
Below is the text of my presentation for today's annual SMF Research Symposium hosted by the Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies department at St. Jerome's University/University of Waterloo. I post it here to facilitate better accessibility. Territorial acknowledgement I am a philosopher who primarily works in women’s and gender studies. Much of the content of my research in reproductive ethics has to do with access: Who has access to fertility? To what treatments and technologies? To … [Read more...]