Asher Rose

In this talk I shall outline my wider philosophical project – presented through a retelling of Orlando by Virginia Woolf - while exploring in more depth several key arguments. I defend an aesthetics*-based account of gender ontology arguing that gender can be best understood by adopting concepts commonly used in philosophy of art such as performance art, genre, and interpretation. I shall produce a unique reading of the work of Judith Butler defending an implicit Sartrian distinction between to have, to be and to do. I shall demonstrate how an aesthetic concept of gender interacts with the discursive and metaphysical boundaries of the Body and the Self. Building on the thought of Foucault and Derrida, I conclude by enquiring as to how one’s gender exists-with others and in society.   *My use of this term does not intend to imply a foundation built on the notion of beauty, rather my adoption of concepts from the wider field of philosophy of art.

In this paper I will argue that Spinoza's metaphysics reflects the Kabbalist metaphysical system. In much of the contemporary literature, the influence of early modern thinkers such as Descartes has been aggrandized to the detriment of other influences on his thought, such as the Kabbalistic tradition. I will argue that there is strong historical evidence to suggest that Spinoza was exposed to and engaged in Kabbalah, such as his references to Kabbalah in his works and letters, the books he owned and the opinions of his contemporaries. Secondly, I shall argue that Spinoza's metaphysical system mirrors Kabbalistic metaphysics. Although some concepts are substituted and alternate methodologies adopted, I advocate that the mechanics of the two systems are strikingly similar. I posit that Spinoza sublates the Kabbalist system into an atemporal form. Finally, I argue that reading Spinoza through the lens of Kabbalah can elucidate some of the obscurities in his work and can solve problems that seem to arise when determining the relationship between God and attributes and can explain seemingly anachronistic metaphysical concepts which scholars have located in Spinoza’s oeuvre.