Please join the German Studies Lecture Series talk entitled, "Being Born: Towards a Phenomonology of Natality" by Gill Zimmermann (Zeppelin University).

Abstract:
Since its inceptions, philosophy has been obsessively devoted to contemplating death. Its protagonists never seemed to tire of pointing a finger at the fact of death’s suppression, while at the same time insisting that it is only out of finitude that an authentic life becomes tangible. And yet, has this not led to a second suppression or forgetfulness? To a forgetfulness regarding birth? The lecture will address the question what a philosophy might look like that is written from the vantage point of birth. With critical recourse to texts by Arendt, Freud, Husserl, Klein, Bion, and others, the contours of a natal phenomenology will be outlined. What could it mean to our conceptions of thought, phantasy, affect, and existence, if humans are not just born once, but instead have to be understood as natal beings?

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The German Studies Lecture Series is hosted by the Department of German Studies, Stanford University.