This thesis investigates the canonical, western philosophical way of thinking about human origin. It claims that this traditional understanding of origin is focussed on birth: a moment that a new...Show moreThis thesis investigates the canonical, western philosophical way of thinking about human origin. It claims that this traditional understanding of origin is focussed on birth: a moment that a new person originates from the darkness, into the light. This instigates an image of human origin as one of separation, an image that is contradicted by the phenomenological acounts of the people that have actually enjoyed or endured this process of human origination in the midst of their very own bodies: pregnant women. Their accounts paint a very different picture of the start of human life. This thesis investigates this structurally overlooked perspective on origin, and will answer the question as to what and in which way the traditional, canonical philosophical realm benefits in accuracy and richness from a serious consideration of the phenomenological experience of pregnancy. Ultimately, we move from an understanding of human origin as a clearly defined moment of separation, to a continuum of becoming, marked by an ambiguous relationality.Show less
This thesis considers the statement made by Spinoza in his Ethics (E2d6) where he states "By reality and perfection I understand the same". Commentators have considered this statement to be...Show moreThis thesis considers the statement made by Spinoza in his Ethics (E2d6) where he states "By reality and perfection I understand the same". Commentators have considered this statement to be puzzling and problematic. The main problem for Spinoza scholars is that he goes too far in the direction of identity and therefore becomes unable to account for difference. In what follows I argue that this is only the case if one reads the identity of reality and perfection superficially. A more careful reading suggests that the statement is not a contradiction because Spinoza does elaborate a theory of becoming, with the notions of perfection and power of action as its core. In the light of this interpretation, my argument is that E2d6 is not contradictory because Spinoza's notions of perfection and reality are both identified with becoming.Show less
