Textures of Light: Vision and Touch in Irigaray, Levinas and Merleau Ponty

by Cathry Vasseleu

Textures of Light draws on the work of Luce Irigaray, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas to present an outstanding and ground breaking study of the vital importance of light in Western thought. Since Plato's allegory of the cave, light and the role of sight have been accorded a unique position in Western thought. They have stood as a metaphor for truth and objectivity and the very axis of modern rationalism. More recently however, this status has come under significant criticism from continental and feminist thought which has stressed the privileging of subjectivity and masculinity in such a metaphor.

Genres: Philosophy

166 pages, Hardcover

First published February 5, 1998

Reviews

[Cate Andrews]

Embodiment, quite paradoxically, is a difficult concept (for some it remains just that -as Sir Ken Robinson was known to suggest that some academics believe their body is simply the carrier of their brains to a conference) to teach and learn. We touch all the time and we notice so much less of the time. This book brought me into experiences where I thought purposefully as a practice of being present. Presentness in a classroom, like Robinson has suggested, needs to acknowledge unpredictability and through this unstifling the culture of failure and mistakes. Creativity and reading is enjoyable like Barthes' jouissance...feeling textures and creating light for others rights to feel and see us a well being approach in the classroom. I read this book at university and I found some struggles enjoyable and some connections needed. Food for thought and for healing a community's soul whether Indigenous or refugee isnt easy. The right to experience rights (Sehla Benhabib's writings also influential here but not the end point for presentness, feeling and embodiment) is to sensuously live embodiment. Vasselou opens these doors even if only for commencing a discussion, to listen to others and their stories is a right or jouissance in inclusion.

[Göker Makaskıran]

Çeviri berbat, İngilizcesiyle karşılaştırmalı okununca anlaşılabiliyor ama bitiremedim.

[Larry Baker]

This book serves as a nice introduction to issues around the body in continental philosophy.

[Abrandon]

excellent introduction to conteporary study in phenomenology, this book attempts a literary inscription of vision and touch in three different writers.