The significance of the body in ethical discourse: Julia Kristeva's contribution to moral theology.
type: CreativeWork
description: The goal of the dissertation is to demonstrate Julia Kristeva's important contribution to the significance of the body for moral theology. The thesis begins by identifying a polarization between, on the one hand, the temptation to completely transcend the body and, on the other, the temptation to excessively identify the human person with his or her body when addressing imbalances which limit and oppress women and men. Within a survey of literature in Christian ethics, I identify three levels of progressively more nuanced responses. The levels are those who privilege the body excessively bracketing out the transcendent dimension, those who also privilege the body but leave room for transcendence and those who recognize the need to move beyond an either/or corrective. I then consider the work of feminist theologian and ethicist, Rosemary Ruether. Ruether's analysis reveals the deep and pervasive limits which confront us when we attempt to move beyond the polarity between an essentialism (transcending the body) and a determinism (privileging the body). Yet, Ruether leaves work undone. Hence, I turn to Kristeva to take the analysis of the body-psyche dynamic to a level that both explains the polarity and probes a creative dynamic in the human person that allows for an undermining of the polarity. Chapters two, three and four give an account of the work of Julia Kristeva. Chapter two presents an overview of Kristeva's work. Amid Kristeva's variety of sources there emerges a central concern underlying all of her work; her concern for "otherness"---her own and the world's. Thus, Kristeva's concern for ethics emerges. Chapter three presents the theoretical part of Kristeva's foundational book Revolution in Poetic Language. In chapter four I clarify Kristeva's contribution to the problem set out in chapter one. Here I highlight the ramifications of her theory. I do this by exploring Kristeva's phenomenological study of the condition of abjection in her book Powers of Horror…
abstract: The goal of the dissertation is to demonstrate Julia Kristeva's important contribution to the significance of the body for moral theology. The thesis begins by identifying a polarization between, on the one hand, the temptation to completely transcend the body and, on the other, the temptation to excessively identify the human person with his or her body when addressing imbalances which limit and oppress women and men. Within a survey of literature in Christian ethics, I identify three levels of progressively more nuanced responses. The levels are those who privilege the body excessively bracketing out the transcendent dimension, those who also privilege the body but leave room for transcendence and those who recognize the need to move beyond an either/or corrective. I then consider the work of feminist theologian and ethicist, Rosemary Ruether. Ruether's analysis reveals the deep and pervasive limits which confront us when we attempt to move beyond the polarity between an essentialism (transcending the body) and a determinism (privileging the body). Yet, Ruether leaves work undone. Hence, I turn to Kristeva to take the analysis of the body-psyche dynamic to a level that both explains the polarity and probes a creative dynamic in the human person that allows for an undermining of the polarity. Chapters two, three and four give an account of the work of Julia Kristeva. Chapter two presents an overview of Kristeva's work. Amid Kristeva's variety of sources there emerges a central concern underlying all of her work; her concern for "otherness"---her own and the world's. Thus, Kristeva's concern for ethics emerges. Chapter three presents the theoretical part of Kristeva's foundational book Revolution in Poetic Language. In chapter four I clarify Kristeva's contribution to the problem set out in chapter one. Here I highlight the ramifications of her theory. I do this by exploring Kristeva's phenomenological study of the condition of abjection in her book Powers of Horror…
author: Jamieson, Christine.
keywords: Theology.
identifier: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 60-08, Section: A, page: 2978.
date published: 2009-03-23T17:35:10Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:39:20Z
provider: University of Ottawa
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Ottawa (Canada)

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/8676

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.20381/ruor-7429