Reproduction, Race, and Gender in Philosophy and the Early Life Sciences

Contents......Page 6
Introduction......Page 8
 Notes......Page 21
PART I. REPRODUCTION AND THE EARLY LIFE SCIENCES......Page 26
 1. Generation, Genealogy, and Time: The Concept of Reproduction from Histoire naturelle to Naturphilosophie......Page 28
  Generation, Production, Reproduction: Historical-Semantic Shifts......Page 31
  Reproduction As Multiplication: La Mettrie, Maupertuis, and Buffon......Page 33
  Reproduction As Repetition: Blumenbach, Herder, and Kielmeyer......Page 36
  Reproduction As Return: Schelling, Görres, Hegel......Page 39
  Conclusion......Page 43
  Notes......Page 45
 2. Organic Molecules, Parasites, Urthiere: The Controversial Nature of Spermatic Animals, 1749–1841......Page 52
  Thinking the Organic World As a Unity: Buffon and Blumenbach......Page 53
  Ordering the World Through Gender Hierarchy: Oken......Page 58
  Combining Antagonistic Visions of the Organic World......Page 62
  Notes......Page 64
 3. The Scientific Construction of Gender and Generation in the German Late Enlightenment and in German Romantic Naturphilosophie......Page 72
  Ambiguity and Interaction: Wilhelm Von Humboldt......Page 75
  Pure Masculinity, Separation, and Polarization: Lorenz Oken......Page 79
  The “Female As Such”: Carl Gustav Carus......Page 84
  Notes......Page 88
 4. Zeugung/Fortpflanzung: Distinctions of Medium in the Discourse on Generation around 1800......Page 90
  Fortpflanzung: Modes of Continuity in Goethe, Herder, and Fichte......Page 92
  Fortpflanzung’s Propagation: Johann Wilhem Ritter on Acoustics and Chemistry......Page 96
  Ritter’s Acoustics......Page 98
  Ritter’S Chemistry......Page 100
  Virtualizing Propagation: Karl Ernst von Baer......Page 102
  Conclusion......Page 104
  Notes......Page 105
 5. Treviranus’ Biology: Generation, Degeneration, and the Boundaries of Life......Page 112
  A Science of Living Nature: Biology and the Boundaries of Life......Page 114
  Biology As the History of Physical Life: Generation and Degeneration......Page 121
  Conclusion......Page 128
  Notes......Page 130
PART II. ARTICULATIONS OF RACE AND GENDER......Page 136
 6. Skin Color and the Origin of Physical Anthropology (1640–1850)......Page 138
  “Why are the Ethiopians Black?” Skin Color As a Research Object......Page 143
  Explanations of Blackness......Page 147
  Skin Color, Classification, and Difference......Page 149
  Skin Color, Slavery, and the Notion of Race......Page 152
  On the Construction of a European Somatic Identity......Page 156
  Notes......Page 159
 7. The Caucasian Slave Race: Beautiful Circassians and the Hybrid Origin of European Identity......Page 170
  “The Handsomest Women of the World”: Beauty and Desire......Page 172
  Erotic Commodities of Trade: The Circulation of Circassian Women......Page 176
  Crossbreedings: Improving Blood and Beauty......Page 178
  Inventing the Caucasians......Page 180
  Proto-Eugenics, Exotic Desire, and White Women......Page 186
  Notes......Page 189
 8. Analogy of Analogy: Animals and Slaves in Mary Wollstonecraft’s Defense of Women’s Rights......Page 194
  Environment and Analogy: Samuel Stanhope Smith and Catherine Macaulay......Page 195
  Olaudah Equiano: Slavery and Animal Analogies......Page 199
  Wollstonecraft and the Animal Analogy......Page 201
  Clustering Analogies: Animals, Slaves, Women......Page 205
  Analogies As Analogies of Analogies......Page 209
  Notes......Page 212
 9. Reproducing Difference: Race and Heredity from a longue durée Perspective......Page 224
  Heredity and Disease......Page 226
  Heredity and Human Variety......Page 230
  Heredity and the Struggle For Life......Page 233
  Conclusion......Page 237
  Notes......Page 238
  The Role of the Keime in Kant’s Theory of Race......Page 244
  Blumenbach’s Rejection of the Keime in his Essay on the Bildungstrieb......Page 248
  Kant’s Endorsement of Girtanner’s Contribution......Page 252
  Schelling’s Testimony......Page 254
  Kant’s Legacy......Page 256
  Notes......Page 258
 11. Sexual Polarity in Schelling and Hegel......Page 266
  Schelling’s Polarization: Production and Inhibition......Page 267
  Male Production—Female Inhibition......Page 269
  Hegel’s Polarization: Concept and Matter......Page 273
  The Sexualization of Concept and Matter......Page 276
  Sexual and Racial Difference......Page 279
  Sexual Difference and the Philosophy of Nature......Page 281
  Notes......Page 284
About the Contributors......Page 290
Index......Page 294