Málþing: Heimspekin og leitin að karlmennskunni

English below.

Málþing: Fimmtudagur 5. Apríl, 14:00-16:00
Hátíðarsalur, Aðalbygging, Háskóli Íslands

Heimspeki hefur leitast við að varpa fram almennu sjónarhorni sem nær að fanga annað og meira en hið einstaka. En þegar öllu er á botninn hvolft virðist þetta „almenna“ sjónarhorn í raun vera karlhverft. Einsetumaðurinn sem reynir að fanga heiminn með óhlutbundinni skynsemi sinni er bæði ímynd heimspekinnar og ákveðin gerð karlmennsku. Um þessar mundir er þessi karlmennsku-ímynd í kreppu.

Bandaríski heimspekingurinn Tom Digby hefur skrifað og kennt um karlmennsku, kyn og heimspeki undanfarin 30 ár. Fyrirlestur hans fjallar um “óstöðugleika karlmennskunnar”. Í lokin tekur hann þátt í pallborði ásamt Ole Sandberg, doktorsnema í heimspeki, Ólafi Páli Jónssyni, prófessor í heimspeki, Thomasi Janniarsyni, doktorsnema í kynjafræði, og Þorgerði Einarsdóttur, prófessor í kynjafræði.

Heimspekistofnun í samstarfi við MARK Miðstöð margbreytileika- og kynjarannsókna

Philosophy and the Quest for Masculinity

Symposium: Thursday April 5, 14:00-16:00
Aula, Main Building, University of Iceland

Despite philosophy’s attempt to present itself as emanating from ideal thinkers, traditionally philosophy has been tacitly masculine. The solitary, independent thinker grasping the world through abstract reason is an image of philosophy as it likes to see itself, but also reflects a common image of specifically masculine subjectivity. Each of those images is currently undergoing a crisis.

The American philosopher Tom Digby has written, lectured, and taught about gender topics for the last 30 years. He will give a presentation on “the instability of masculinity”. The talk will be followed by a panel consisting of Þorgerður Einarsdóttir, professor of gender studies, Thomas Janniarson, doctoral student of gender studies, Ólafur Páll Jónsson, professor of philosophy, and Ole Sandberg, doctoral student of philosophy.

Tom Digby is an American philosopher who has been addressing the topic of masculinity for over 20 years. He has served as U.S. Advisory Editor of the journal Men and Masculinities since it was founded by Michael Kimmel in 1998. Digby’s most recent book is Love and War: How Militarism Shapes Sexuality and Romance (Columbia University Press), in which he describes how emotional toughness and misogyny structure masculinity in some cultures, with broadly destructive social ramifications – including in the context of heterosexual love and sexuality. His previous book is Men Doing Feminism (Routledge). Digby’s early articles in philosophy journals were on Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hobbes, and other traditional philosophical topics. He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Springfield College in Massachusetts, USA.

Thanks to Tom Digby for giving a great lecture at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík. The topic: The Instability of Masculinity. Great lecture, and great discussions. Thanks also to the panel: Ólafur Páll Jónsson, professor of philosophy, Ole Sandberg, Thomas Janniarson, doctoral students, and Þorgerður Einarsdóttir, professor of Gender Studies. Tom began his lecture with discussing the adversarial approach in philosophy as a sign of a masculine style that has roots in militaristic mentalities. He referred to Robert Nozick who in his introduction to Philosophical Explanations said he did not offer arguments (in the adversarial style) but rather explanations. Tom described his own pragmatic, phenomenological approach with the image of two people who do bird watching and one points something to the other that he/she has not seen. Masculinity in philosophy is something that is there, but mostly not seen. He then went on to talk about how masculinity is a cultural programming that requires stability and strength. The cost is instability of masculinity that is forced to repress vulnerability and emotions.