“I am in mourning for life on Earth”

Taking precariousness and grievability beyond the human

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51359/2357-9986.2024.261006

Keywords:

precariousness, grievability, bodies beyond-the-human, antispeciecist ethics

Abstract

Judith Butler’s contributions to philosophy and politics have become one of the most fruitful spores in contemporary thought. Engaging with a wide range of critical thinking, they open a source to many of those who speak from the resistance to the norm. This article aims at introducing an antispeciecist reading of their major contributions to epistemology, ontology and ethics, namely through the concepts of frame, precariousness and grievability, with a special focus on their conception of the body. These ideas are discussed from the perspective of a possibility: that of taking Butler’s proposal beyond the human. The reflection shows that they do open interesting paths for antispeciecist philosophy, while some of its implications are not free of difficulty.

Author Biographies

Dirk Michael Hennrich, Centre of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon

Dirk Michael Hennrich is a PhD Researcher in the Philosophy of Nature and Environment at the School of Arts and Humanities and the Centre of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon since 2019. He was Postdoctoral Researcher at the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology (FCT) from 2015-2019 and Researcher for Portuguese Language and Culture at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2014. He finished his PhD in 2014 at the University of Lisbon with a grant from the Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science and Technology (FCT). He holds a Master in Philosophy, Modern German Literature and History from the University of Basel/Switzerland (2003). He is a foreign collaborator of the CISC (Centro Interdisciplinar de Semiótica da Cultura e da Mídia, PUC-São Paulo), foreign collaborator of the LAPSI (Laboratório de Psicologia Socioambiental e Intervenção USP) and foreign collaborator of the research group Ethics and Rights of the Animals at Diversitas-USP. He is also currently leading the international three-year Antropocénica series (Lisbon 2022/Santarém do Pará 2023/Cabo Verde 2024), which focuses on the study of the Anthropocene. (www.antropocenica.ooo) His research interests are Ethics of Nature, Philosophy of Landscape, Animal Ethics, Media Philosophy, Ethics of Technology and Philosophy of Technology.

Inés Villanueva Pérez, Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa)

Inés Villanueva Pérez is temporarily an independent researcher. After her bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Spanish universities Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Aut´ónoma de Madrid and Carlos III (Madrid), she finished in 2023 the International Master's Degree in Contemporary Philosophy carried out at the universities of Lisbon (Portugal) and Lille (France), highest honours. Her master thesis revolved around the possibility to take Judith Butler and Adriana Cavarero's insights on the concepts of vulnerability towards beings beyond the human, whether animal or not. She currently works for the Catalan government, in the Department of Social Rights, as specialist consultant.

References

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Published

2024-07-10

Issue

Vol. 51 No. 1 (2024): Judith Butler: corpos políticos e políticas da linguagem

Section

Dossiê Temático Judith Butler: corpos políticos e políticas da linguagem

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Copyright (c) 2024 Dirk Michael Hennrich, Inés Villanueva Pérez

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