Spring
1999

ISF100B

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Fall 1999 Final Review Questions

1. Aggression is one of the key concepts in Nietzsche, Freud, and Fanon. Compare their views on aggression as you locate the place of aggression in feminist psychoanalytic theory.
2. Feminist theory has been concerned with the ways in which women accept their roles in society. How do Kristeva, Irigaray, Benjamin and Chodorow deal with this issue? Is there something useful to be gained from their feminist work for a theory of gender?
3. Reich, Horkheimer, and, to a lesser extent, Marcuse developed their work against the background of German history. Which features of their work transcends the historical location of their work?
4. One of the most important features of Enlightenment philosophy -- both epistemological and practical -- was to secure the autonomy of the subject. In light of the texts we have studied throughout the semester, what constitutes the twentieth century version of an autonomous subject?
5. Freud is one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Describe the trajectory of his influence in the texts we have studied. To which extent is his work still relevant today?
6. What are the implications of the linguistic turn for feminism?
7. Based on the texts we have studied in this course, relate the problem of the "linguistic turn" to the concepts of "truth" and "fact."
8. Most of the theories we have studied focus on sexuality as essential to the liberational project. Which theorists do not focus on sexuality and why do you think that is? Which advantages and disadvantages for a liberational project derive from these various models?
9. How are the ideas Frantz Fanon presented in his text concerning the many faces of racism relevant to our societies today? Can his ideas be applied to sexism?
10. Freud developed his theoretical system almost one hundred years ago. His views on the relation of the individual to society was marked by the major institutions of his epoch. As we move into the informational age, or, as Manuel Castells would call it, the network society, institutions will undergo fundamental transformations. What will be the effects of these transformations on the relation of the individual to society? How will it effect consciousness and the unconscious?
11. Irigaray and Fanon develop their ideas in quite different historical and cultural contexts. Nonetheless, they do have one substantive feature in common. What do you think it is, and how do you relate it to the other texts we have studied.
12. "Experience" is a concept which has received considerable attention throughout the semester. Discuss this concept against the background of the texts we have studied.
13. Nietzsche is a favorite text for some feminist theorists. Trace his influence in the feminists we have studied and indicate the advantages and disavantages Nietzsche has to offer to feminism.
14. Marx and Freud inform the work of the Frankfurt School critical theorists. What are the advantages of an amalgamation of Marx and Freud for a feminist theory?
15. Historically, theories of the unconscious have been discussed in relation to religion. On the basis of the texts we have studied, do you see a connection between religious sentiment and the unconscious?
16. Marx's famous dictum that it is not consciousness that determines life but life that determines consciousness may also be applied to the unconscious. On the basis of the texts you have studied, discuss the function of the unconscious in the production of meaning?
17. Most theories we have studied tend to focus on the individual unconscious. Which texts are useful for theorizing a collective unconscious?
18. Italian feminist theorists (Diotima) attempted to repoliticize Irigaray's project. What are the limits of Irigaray's project, and what are the limits of Diotima?
19. Domination is a key term in feminist theory. Where do the notions of domination as worked out by the feminists we have studied overlap with a general theory of domination?
20. Max Weber differentiated between intellectuals and the intelligentsia. The former create ideas, whereas the latter merely circulate them. From your point of view, which ideas in the class we discussed together were original? Did we merely reiterate what was stated in the texts, or where there moments of creative thinking?