The abandoned fiancée, or against subjection
pp. 127-145
in: Pamela S. Anderson (ed), New topics in feminist philosophy of religion, Berlin, Springer, 2010Abstract
In this chapter, I argue—in the wake of Michèle Le Doeuff—against the valorization of subjection that has taken hold of modern theology. Analysing Graham Ward's Christ and Culture, I contend that the recent penchant for an ethics of kenosis in religious thought leads ultimately—despite explicit protestations to the contrary—to a conception of subjectivity as constituted in servitude before Christ. However, this criticism is not—pace Ward—to apply secular, Enlightenment values to a distinct post-secular realm; rather, in the second half of the chapter, I enter into dialogue with Le Doeuff's criticisms of Søren Kierkegaard, in order to suggest that co-existing with Kierkegaard's misogyny towards his abandoned fiancée, there is also an adherence in his work to a Le Doeuffean ethics of friendship. Thus, I conclude, Christianity is not incompatible with modernity.
