Love as a Hollow: Merleau‐Ponty's Promise of Queer Love. (8th October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Burke, Megan M.
• Other Names: Ferguson Ann guestEditor.; Toye Margaret E. guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Hypatia. Volume 32:Number 1(2017)
• Page Start: 54
• Page End: 68
• Publication Date: 2016-10-08
• Subjects: Feminist theory -- Periodicals; Feminism -- United States -- Periodicals; Femininity (Philosophy) -- Periodicals; 305.4201
• DOI: 10.1111/hypa.12299
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0887-5367

Abstract

Abstract : This article argues that Maurice Merleau‐Ponty advances a queer notion of love. In particular, I argue that his notion of love as an institution, as a hollow fueled by the imaginary dimension of existence, shows that love unhinges petrified ideals of gender. I suggest that the crucial insight to be found in Merleau‐Ponty's account of love is that love is a lived openness that invites us to seek out new ways of being.