The second half of the book is much cooler, and you can kind of skim (or even ignore) the first section, which mostly has to do with biology and W’a theories about that. There’s a 50 page stretch in the second section after chapter 4 that’s really great. If you’re curious, that’s where I would go.
I would like to add that his sexism is not in any way a celebratory one! He urges to woman to overcome her faults, though he is sceptical on whether this is possible, he encourages the manly women. He is pro-emancipation, in the sense that the woman should aspire to become as man-like as possible.
When I discovered a biography of Otto Weiniger in my college library some 20 years ago I made a promise to myself then and there to never ever be anything like him. Reading it was like watching a car crash. Fascinating but traumatizing.
Not really. You can certainly disregard his unfounded assertions about women, but at base his system is built on a metaphysical binary. Male and female are his fundamental categories, and he basically ascribes all positive values to the male and all negative ones to female. So he’s kind of metaphysically sexist.
His whole book is excellent and you don't deserve to read it
It really is a gem. Especially the second half.
He was right about everything
I don’t read a lot of philosophy but that sounds interesting.
The second half of the book is much cooler, and you can kind of skim (or even ignore) the first section, which mostly has to do with biology and W’a theories about that. There’s a 50 page stretch in the second section after chapter 4 that’s really great. If you’re curious, that’s where I would go.
I would like to add that his sexism is not in any way a celebratory one! He urges to woman to overcome her faults, though he is sceptical on whether this is possible, he encourages the manly women. He is pro-emancipation, in the sense that the woman should aspire to become as man-like as possible.
When I discovered a biography of Otto Weiniger in my college library some 20 years ago I made a promise to myself then and there to never ever be anything like him. Reading it was like watching a car crash. Fascinating but traumatizing.
Can you divorce the sexism from the philosophy
Not really. You can certainly disregard his unfounded assertions about women, but at base his system is built on a metaphysical binary. Male and female are his fundamental categories, and he basically ascribes all positive values to the male and all negative ones to female. So he’s kind of metaphysically sexist.