Philosophical Concepts

Situated Knowledge

Feminist epistemological concept that all knowledge is situated in particular perspectives. Haraway: objectivity comes from partial perspective, not view from nowhere. Standpoint theory: oppressed groups have epistemic advantage. Knowledge is …

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Philosophical Concepts

Desiring-Machines

Deleuze-Guattarian concept of desire as productive force creating reality. Desire is not lack but production and connection. Desiring-machines couple with other machines, cutting flows. Opposed to Freudian lack-based desire. Unconscious …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Fold

Leibnizian-Deleuzian concept of infinite folding as nature's operation. Matter folds infinitely inward; soul unfolds infinitely outward. The fold replaces the point as basic element. Monads are folds within folds. Baroque …

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Philosophical Concepts

Difference and Repetition

Deleuzian concept that repetition creates difference rather than sameness. Each repetition alters what is repeated. Eternal return selects and creates. Difference is primary; identity is effect. Generative repetition versus bare …

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Philosophical Concepts

Becoming

Deleuzian concept emphasizing change over static identity. Reality is becoming rather than being. We are events, not essences. Becoming-woman, becoming-animal, becoming-imperceptible are lines of flight from identity. Transformation over representation. …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Rhizome

Deleuze and Guattari's concept of non-linear, non-hierarchical organization. Rhizome (like grass roots) spreads horizontally, contrasting with tree structure (hierarchical). Any point connects to any other—no center or origin. Rhizomes are …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Spectacle

Situationist concept of social relations mediated by images. Debord: spectacle is not collection of images but social relation. Everything that was lived has become mere representation. Spectacle unifies and explains—it's …

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Philosophical Concepts

Simulacra

Baudrillard's concept of copies without originals in postmodern society. Simulacra are representations that precede and determine reality. Four stages: reflection of reality, perversion of reality, pretending reality, no relation to …

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Philosophical Concepts

Biopower

Foucauldian concept of power over populations and life processes. Biopower manages birth rates, health, hygiene, sexuality, life expectancy. Differs from sovereign power (right to kill) by fostering life. Modern states …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Panopticon

Foucauldian concept of surveillance creating self-discipline. Bentham's panopticon prison design: central tower observes all cells, but prisoners can't see observer. Uncertainty of being watched induces self-surveillance. Power becomes internalized and …

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Philosophical Concepts

Ideology

Marxist concept of ideas that justify and reproduce social relations. Ideology presents particular interests as universal. False consciousness mistakes ideological representation for reality. Dominant ideology serves ruling class while appearing …

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Philosophical Concepts

Hegemony

Gramscian concept of ideological dominance that appears natural and inevitable. Hegemony operates through consent rather than coercion. Ruling class maintains power by shaping common sense and culture. Counter-hegemony challenges dominant …

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Philosophical Concepts

Alienation

Marxist concept of workers' estrangement from products, labor, species-being, and others under capitalism. Workers don't own products of labor, experiencing them as alien. Labor becomes mere means to survival rather …

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Philosophical Concepts

Praxis

Marxist concept of action informed by theory that changes reality. Praxis unites theory and practice—thinking and doing interpenetrate. Knowledge emerges through transformative action. Praxis differs from mere practice by being …

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Philosophical Concepts

Dialectic

Method of reasoning through opposition and resolution. Hegelian dialectic: thesis generates antithesis, resolved in synthesis that becomes new thesis. History progresses dialectically through contradictions. Marx materialized Hegel's dialectic: economic contradictions …

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Philosophical Concepts

Postmodernism

Philosophical movement skeptical of grand narratives, universal truths, and foundational certainty. Lyotard defined postmodernism as incredulity toward metanarratives. Rejects Enlightenment faith in reason and progress. Emphasizes local, plural, contingent truths …

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Philosophical Concepts

Deconstruction

Derridean method of revealing instability in texts and concepts. Deconstruction shows how binary oppositions (presence/absence, speech/writing) privilege one term. The suppressed term haunts and undermines the privileged. Différance—difference and deferral—prevents …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Other

Philosophical concept of otherness and the fundamentally different. Levinas emphasized the Other's face makes ethical demands prior to ontology. The Other cannot be reduced to my categories or comprehended. Sartre …

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Philosophical Concepts

Being-Toward-Death

Heideggerian concept that authentic existence involves acknowledging death as one's ownmost possibility. Death is the possibility of impossibility—cessation of all possibilities. Being-toward-death individualizes, making clear what is genuinely mine. Most …

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Philosophical Concepts

Angst

Existentialist concept of anxiety arising from confronting freedom, death, and meaninglessness. Kierkegaard described angst as dizziness of freedom—vertigo facing infinite possibilities. Heidegger distinguished angst (ontological anxiety) from fear (of specific …

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Philosophical Concepts

Bad Faith

Sartrean concept of denying one's freedom and responsibility through self-deception. Bad faith involves identifying with fixed roles or blaming circumstances for choices. The waiter who over-identifies with his role exemplifies …

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Philosophical Concepts

Authenticity

Existentialist concept of living in accordance with one's true self rather than social expectations. Heidegger's authentic existence confronts death and chooses own possibilities. Sartre's authenticity involves acknowledging radical freedom and …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Absurd Hero

Camus's concept of living fully while accepting life's meaninglessness. The absurd hero, like Sisyphus, revolts against the absurd by embracing the struggle. Happiness is possible through lucid acceptance and passionate …

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Philosophical Concepts

The Sublime

Aesthetic concept of experiences that transcend ordinary beauty through vastness or power. Burke distinguished beautiful (small, smooth) from sublime (vast, terrible). Kant analyzed sublime as mathematical (vastness) and dynamic (power). …

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