Jessica Elbert Decker & Danielle A. Layne 
Otherwise Than the Binary 
New Feminist Readings in Ancient Philosophy and Culture

Otherwise Than the Binary approaches canonical texts and concepts in Ancient Greek philosophy and culture that have traditionally been understood as examples of binary thinking, particularly concerning sexual difference. In contrast to such patriarchal logic, the essays within this volume explore how many of these seemingly strict binaries in ancient culture and thought were far more permeable and philosophically nuanced. Each contribution asks if there are ways of thinking of antiquity differently—namely, to examine canonical works through a lens that expounds and even celebrates philosophies of difference so as to discover instances where authors of antiquity valorize and uphold the necessity of what has been seen as feminine, foreign, and/or irrational. As contemporary thinkers turn toward new ways of reading antiquity, these selected studies will inspire other readings of ancient texts through new feminist methodologies and critical vantage points. When examining the philosophers and notable figures of antiquity alongside their overt patriarchal and masculinist agendas, readers are invited to rethink their current biases while also questioning how particular ideas and texts are received and read.

Tabella dei contenuti

Introduction


Jessica Elbert Decker and Danielle A. Layne




Part I: Myth, Divination, and the Pre-Platonic



1. Was Homer’s Circe a Witch?


Andrew Gregory



2. The Oracle as Intermediary


Sasha Biro



3. The Roots of Life and Death in the Homeric Hymns and Presocratic Philosophy


Jessica Elbert Decker



4. The Intelligibility of Difference: Anaxagoras’ and Lugones’ Ontologies of Separation


Holly Moore




Part II: Platonic Transformations



5. As Much Mixture as Will Suffice: Socrates’ Embodied Intermediacy in Plato’s
Phaedo and
Symposium
Hilary Yancey and Anne-Marie Schultz



6. Overturning Soul-Body Dualism in Plato’s
Timaeus
Monica Vilhauer



7. The Argument of Socrates’ Action in
Republic V
Mary Townsend




Part III: Late Antique Destabilizations



8. Divine Mothers: Plotinus’ Erotic Productive Causes


Danielle A. Layne



9. Beyond Maleness and Femaleness? The Case of the Virgin Goddesses in Proclus’ Metaphysics


Jana Schultz



10. Hekate and the Liminality of Souls


William Koch



11. Christian Platonists in Support of Gender Equality: Bardaisan, Clement, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Eriugena


Ilaria L. E. Ramelli



Contributors

Index

Circa l’autore

Jessica Elbert Decker is Associate Professor at California State University San Marcos.
Danielle A. Layne is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University.
Monica Vilhauer is Founder of Curious Soul Philosophy.