Gender: G.W.F. Hegel - Franz Rosenzweig - Jacques Derrida

This project`s theme is the exploration of the philosophical gender theories of Rosenzweig and Derrida, examined anew in the context of Hegel`s Phenomonenology of the Spirit. This perspective allows me to compare the authors with each other, bringing them into a virtual dialogue. The philosophical transformation from Hegel to Rosenzweig and Derrida as related to gender themes represents a field of research, unjustly neglected in both present and historical debates, and could enable a new perspective on 20th-century philosophy. Hegel, Rosenzweig and Derrida are thinkers who developed complex approaches to a philosophy of gender relations, each offering a new perspective for their time. My research project will explore the relationship between these philosophers concerning issues of gender an aspect that has not been adequately studied until now. Taking into account this desideratum, I will initiate a virtual dialogue between these fascinating philosophers. It is surprising that this extensive knowledge has yet to be really reflected on used in contemporary research. In developing his philosophical system in Star of Redemption Rosenzweig developed a radical critique of Hegel, which however, was never explicitly elaborated. Therefore, it is my goal in this study to analyse the differences between two thinkers who contributed significantly to the philosophy of gender relations. In order to deepen this dialogue and reach new insights, I will also take Jacques Derrida`s reflections on this subject into account. Revealing how the thought of these three philosophers relate should not just allow a deeper understanding of these philosophers but also provide new impulses and insights regarding their specific approach to gender. Franz Rosenzweig and Jacques Derrida are proponents of a 20th-century philosophy who have generally been read and reflected on in isolation from one another. In this project, Rosenzweig`s and Derrida`s philosophical theories of gender will be reinterpreted in the context of a discussion of Hegel`s PG; I believe that this relationship has been unjustly neglected in previous research, but also that Hegel`s influence on those philosophers in the existing research literature has often been oversimplified sometimes almost to the point of caricatureand described in a self-serving, misleading fashion. My project suggests another view: By initiating a dialogue between these different approaches, I will highlight the challenges these three thinkers pose for a new understanding of European philosophy, Jewish thought and Gender Studies.

The project has provided a variety of insights that have enabled an in-depth look at the relationship between idealistic philosophy and Franz Rosenzweig's philosophy of dialogue and alterity. It is precisely through the consideration of gender issues and gender-relevant topics that a dialogue between ego-centered approaches and those based on the Leitfaden of the other could be demonstrated. The primary focus of these dialogues is the forgotten body in Western tradition and the identification of its resulting problems. Other focal points of the project were love, justice, memory, history, body, human rights, responsibility, and ethical resistance. Dialogue-based philosophy provides important insights for a philosophy that promotes gender equality. Philosophers do not develop their thoughts in complete isolation and independence from existing influences and cultural currents, rather these are affected by a multitude of influences that have developed between many philosophers and have found expression in their respective writings. In other words: Only if we bid farewell to the image of a heroic (usually male) individual thinker who philosophizes independently of the various existing philosophical, cultural and gender-specific influences, will we succeed in perceiving the plurality of manifestations in the medium of reason. A philosophy that is in dialogue with different schools of thought, and also in dialogue with historical, cultural and gender-specific influences is compatible with and even constitutive of the basic concerns of a gender-just philosophy. Gender is not to be understood as an isolated factor either. It is closely linked to philosophical key issues. A dialogue-based philosophy does not claim to describe subjects or groupings in a meta-perspective. Abstract models of thought are particularly deficient when they are associated with gender dichotomies, stereotypies and other forms of discrimination. The consideration of the philosophy of alterity allows an approach that does not exclude the body. It consists in a formalism, namely the formalism of the speaking and the hearing face. This formalism was recognized by Rosenzweig and Levinas as an underexposed facet in European philosophy and was made the central starting point for a philosophical consideration. Their philosophy also did not emerge independently, but in active, dialogical engagement with European philosophy. The resulting research dialogues can not only point out ways of at least partially closing research gaps in gender philosophy, but also contribute to a responsible approach to questioning totalitarian ideologies and their intertwining with academic traditions.