Love would seem to be the third rail of theory – too vague, too discredited, too personal to be examined directly, much less provocative and interesting than anger or hate. And yet it is ubiquitous in theories of gender, sociality, the interpersonal, and the political. Focusing on Fichte, Schelling, and Günderrode, this talk will explore the way emerging modern polar views of the sexes and of sexual love were integrated into generational dynamics to serve the production of distinctly modern ideologies of social, species, and ontological wholes. The talk will also unearth the glitches or productive detours in these thinkers that point towards alternate possibilities.

The lecture series takes place once a semester in the lecture room (Vortragsraum) of the Institute of Philosophy, Freie Universität Berlin (Habelschwerdter Allee 30, basement).