Final Call for Contributions The Philosophy of Viagra
Published Rodopi in the "Philosophy of Sex and Love" series. Series editor: Adrienne McEvoy. Volume editor: Thorsten Botz- Bornstein Areas covered: General Philosophy, Bioethics and Cultural Studies Viagra has socio-cultural implications not limited to sexuality, but concerns various parts of our cultural landscape. Being relatively convincing in terms of bio-medical efficiency, criticism of Viagra has so far mainly been expressed in the (often feminist) "Liberal Arts" camp where Pfizer (the maker of Viagra) is reproached for its profit-oriented negation of any psychological, social, emotional, and relational components involved in impotency. Lee Quinby, in his essay on "Virile Reality", observes a "Viagra Effect" producing a viagrified reality, which is "mediated violence, clean war, and computer games." Viagra needs to be examined not only from a sociological but also from a philosophical point of view. Philosophers like Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, and Irigay have been interested in exploring sexuality from points of view uninfluenced by theories constructed by scientists. James Waddell has urged us to find "ways of thinking about sexuality that go beyond chemical, biological, and mechanical explanations. We need tools that are forged in the heat of erotic passion as it is lived to help us spot nonsense and to make sense of our own experience" (1997: 2). Does philosophy not know since Plato that scientific explanations, which claim to give an exhaustive account of erotic perception, are misleading? What do philosophers have to say about the "viagrification" culture? Is there a philosophical principle behind Viagra as a cultural phenomenon? Possible subjects are: Viagra and Posthumanism (artificial life) The Body as a Machine Reality and Desire Pursuing Hedonism. Why not? Non-natural sex? Ethical concerns about Viagra The Death of the Erotic? Viagra and the Virtual. Through Viagra the desire is not created but has always been there in a virtual (that is, not actual but also not non-actual) form. Through Viagra the desire becomes (virtually) real. The self and the other. The self and the other in viagrified perception Male and female conceptions of sexuality in conflict Send abstracts to [email protected]. Extended deadline for abstracts: November 1 2009. For articles: August 1 2007. Updates on http://www.freewebs.com/botzbornstein/callsforpapers.htm Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, Ph.D., habil. Assistant Professor of Philosophy Gulf University for Science and Technology Philosophy, Block 5, Building 1, Mubarak Al-Abdullah Area/West Mishef KUWAIT Website: http://www.freewebs.com/botzbornstein/ _________________________________________________________________ A la recherche de bons plans pour une rentrie pas chhre ? Bing ! Trouvez ! http://www.bing.com/search?q=bons+plans+rentr%C3%A9e&form=MVDE6
