WGS 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Audre Lorde, Silenus, Doxa

• School: University of Oregon
• Department: Women's and Gender Studies
• Course: WGS 101
• Professor: Bufalino, Jamie

Document Summary

Socrates (plato"s apology): the unexamined life is not worth living. Solution: moving beyond mere experience and towards truth (abstraction) Some things we see as natural, such as gender roles, are actually just socially constructed. Constantly distracting ourselves from our impending inevitable death with meaningless activity. Human meaninglessness in the absolute void of the repeating universe. Human nothingness in a world without ready-made values. Fear as a response to the possibilities of pain and death. Silence as reaction of self-protecting in response to fear. Silence as ineffective response due to inevitability of death. Language and action as an alternative to silence. Fear and silence are related to society and power. Not engaged with pain and death as an existential shock, but as a constant condition of living as a marginalized person in an oppressive society. This tragic wisdom may be shocking for a wealthy privileged king like midas.