- Hardcover: 248 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press (7 July 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226748677
- ISBN-13: 978-0226748672
- Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 1.6 x 0.2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,394,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"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."--S.A.M. Burns "Annals of Science "
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Turn-of-the-century Vienna is remembered as an aesthetic, erotic and intellectual world: the birthplace of Freud and psychoanalysis, the waltz, and the 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 23. 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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4 reviews
6 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Still unaccounted for...
7 July 2002
Format: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
A poor quality work redeemed by its topic
9 Mar 2009
Format: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
Disagree with previous review
1 Jan 2008
Format: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.
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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