Phenomenology of Pregnancy : A Cure for Philosophy?

This introductory article is structured around the following themes: it begins with a brief overview of some important works that have paved the way for the present discussion (Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, Adrienne Rich and Iris Marion Young). This is followed by a critique of the concept of “experience” and the philosophies based on it (such as phenomenology), that was first presented by feminist thinkers Joan Scott and Judith Butler in the 1980’s. The question this debate poses to the discussions in this book is whether focusing on experience is still a philosophically viable option. After that, the views of Edmund Husserl – often described as “the father of phenomenology” – are presented on the particular themes of motherhood and pregnancy, as it is often overlooked that he had anything to say on the topic. Then follows a short outline of the structure of the experience of pregnancy, and also the modest suggestion that pregnancy should be seen not only as “split subjectivity” (Kristeva, Young and others) but also as a specific mode of phenomenological “in-between.” Thereafter the question is taken up whether pregnancy as a philosophical topic might also affect the methodological core of phenomenology. The article ends with a speculative outlook towards certain themes that have developed as a consequence of thinking pregnancy philosophically. Perceptions of the Other: Aesthetics, Ethics and Prejudic