Can I read Giving an Account of Oneself on EtoBox?

Giving an Account of Oneself by Judith Butler is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Giving an Account of Oneself about?

"What does it mean to lead a moral life? In her first extended study of moral philosophy, Judith Butler offers a provocative outline for a new ethical practice--one responsive to the need for critical autonomy and grounded in a new sense of the human subject. Butler takes as her starting point one's ability to answer the questions "What have I done?" and "What ought I to do?" She shows that these question can be answered only by asking a prior question, "Who is this 'I' who is under an obligation to give an account of itself and to act in certain ways?" Because I find that I cannot give an account of myself without accounting for the social conditions under which I emerge, ethical reflection requires a turn to social theory. In three powerfully crafted and lucidly written chapters, Butler demonstrates how difficult it is to give an account of oneself, and how this lack of self-transparency and narratibility is crucial to an ethical understanding of the human. In brilliant dialogue with Adorno, Levinas, Foucault, and other thinkers, she eloquently argues the limits, possibilities, and dangers of contemporary ethical thought. Butler offers a critique of the moral self, arguing that t

Author

Judith Butler

Publisher

New York: Fordham University Press

Published

2005

Language

EN

ISBN

9780823225033

Subjects

Philosophy, Literary Criticism, Humanities

Rating

4.14 / 5 (555 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14