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Otto Weininger: Difference between revisions
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The notable Swedish artistic polymath and socialist, August Strindberg, listed Weininger with a series of eminent men who had similarly negative views of womenhood and femininity, describing his work as such: "Otto Weininger, having discovered the treachery when he was twenty, did not wait for the revenge but left the scene. [...]"<ref>http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/strindb.html</ref> | The notable Swedish artistic polymath and socialist, August Strindberg, listed Weininger with a series of eminent men who had similarly negative views of womenhood and femininity, describing his work as such: "Otto Weininger, having discovered the treachery when he was twenty, did not wait for the revenge but left the scene. [...]"<ref>http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/strindb.html</ref> | ||
The feminist writer [[Germaine Greer]] heaped praise on portions of his work, though she disagreed with Weininger's claim that women lack ego and self-awareness. | The feminist writer [[Germaine Greer]] heaped praise on portions of his work, though she disagreed with Weininger's claim that women lack ego and self-awareness. Others also interpreted his work in a feminist light, with one of these dubbing Weininger "arguably one of the greatest feminists of all time—there being probably no person in all history who has argued so strongly for the right of every woman to independence and self-determination, or argued so persuasively for her true freedom from the dictates of both men and other women."<ref>http://www.theabsolute.net/ottow/wreadsw.html#_ftnref1</ref> | ||
However, his work is also frequently praised and cited by masculinists, some of whom have been dubbed [[male supremacy|male supremicists]]. | |||
Among the critics of Weininger, the German-Jewish Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch claimed that Weininger's writings were motivated by "the most vehement misogyny known to history". When presented with the work by Weininger, Sigmund Freud refused to recommend publication, and advised Weininger to spend "ten years" gathering empirical evidence for his assertions, to which Weininger responded he would rather spend ten years writing ten books. Nancy Harrowitz and Baraba Hyams collected a series of (mainly highly critical) academic responses to ''Sex and Character'' in their book ''Jews And Gender. Responses to Otto Weininger''.<ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/1395692?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents</ref> | |||
Weininger's biographer, David Abrahamsen, summarized the view of Weininger's work in Europe briefly after his death as such: | |||
<blockquote>The man came as a meteor and disappeared as suddenly. It was only when he had passed that his ideas started to sparkle, electrifying the world. Some regarded him as a biologist, others as a psychologist, still others called him a mystic. Though generally considered a realist, he was at the same time strongly suspected of dealing in fantasies. He was praised for his invincible logic and attacked for his crusade against women. He was full of contradictions. His name became the signal for dispute and controversy in a thousand cities.</blockquote> | |||
==Beliefs== | ==Beliefs== | ||