Self Definition: A Philosophical Inquiry from the Global South and Global North

(Hardback)

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Self Definition argues that sex, gender, and race are constructions by the ineffable self as it seeks to define its possibilities free of domination. The selfs embodiments are themselves performances of self definition. Teodros Kiros supports his argument by a careful reading of the literature from both the Global South and Global North that spans figures, works, and eras from antiquity to our late modern present. These readings demonstrate that race, gender, and sex are performed in the Global South radically differently from in the Global North. These three notions as markers of identity are fluid, open, and expansive, and Kiros brilliantly shows this through inquiry into thought rooted in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, and China. By the time that the Global North forges possibilities of the self in the modern period, race, gender, and sex become fixed. Biology and anatomy become understood as destinies, and the possibilities of the self are deeply constrained. This book approaches case studies of key figures and movements chronologically and thematically, and in doing so Kiros highlights the tensions between the openness of the Global South and the rigidity of the Global North through which human possibilities as exercises of self-definition become clear under conditions of freedom. Our views of self definition will forever be transformed after reading this important text.

Reviews

Self-Definition is erudite and enchanting! It lures the readers to dive into the philosophical depth of the East and the West, finding out ontologically the definition of Self. In this monograph, Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian philosophies are given as much attention as Western philosophers like Descartes, Foucault, and Sartre. Finally, the author's original interpretation of the philosopher Paget Henry's philosophical reasoning to equate Brahman with African notion of Ego sets the foundation stone for the Global South in self-definition. -- Ashmita Khasnabish, Lasell College
Against commentators asserting that attention to identity corrupts politics and individuals lives, Teodros Kiros brilliantly argues that identity and processes of self-definition are essential to the political realm and our understandings of self. Self-Definition rejects the Eurocentrism underlying numerous volumes on the subject. It examines figures, movements, and scholarship from the Global South and Global North. It also explains the who, what, where, when, why, and how of human self-definition across a range of eras. Upon finishing Kiross book, all readers will have to reevaluate their prior conceptions of universality, particularity, and notions of race, gender, sex, and sexuality, especially as a result of the often silenced and disavowed philosophical heritages forged by Global South actors. Human beings are protean. So too, as Kiros demonstrates, are the ways humans define the self and perform identity. -- Neil Roberts, Williams College

Author Bio

Teodros Kiros is associate professor of philosophy and English at Berklee College of Music.