Kierkegaard After the Genome : Science, Existence and Belief in This World PDF
Preview Kierkegaard After the Genome : Science, Existence and Belief in This World
Kierkegaard After the Genome Science, Existence and Belief in This World Ada S. Jaarsma Kierkegaard After the Genome Ada S. Jaarsma Kierkegaard After the Genome Science, Existence and Belief in This World Ada S. Jaarsma Department of Humanities Mount Royal University Calgary AB, Canada ISBN 978-3-319-57980-1 ISBN 978-3-319-57981-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57981-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017940212 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover image: © Vivian Charlse / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Katja and my mother, both reasons for belief in this world. A cknowledgements This book emerged out of many conversations, public and private, over many years. Thanks and appreciation to friends and colleagues who reflected on this project with me: Anna Mudde, Jane Dryden, Joshua St. Pierre, Alexis Shotwell, Aimi Hamraie, Nadine Atwell, Ed Mooney, Raja Singh, Abrahim Kahn, Steven Engler, Kit Dobson, Morny Joy, Tim Stock, Martin Shuster, David Kangas, Lochlann Jain, Cressida Heyes and Chloë Taylor. Careful readers of chapter drafts include: Tara Pedersen, Rachel Jones, Emily Anne Parker, Namrata Mitra, Suze Berkhout, Katja Pettinen, Emily Hutchison and Kyle Kinaschuk. Every chapter stems in part from daily conversations with Katja Pettinen—extending over years and enriching my life so fully—about the existential resonances of evolutionary theory and science studies. These conversations, in turn, reflect the fiercely cross-disciplinary discussions that Katja has been conducting for even longer with Myrdene Anderson: discus- sions about anthropology and philosophy, and systems theory and biosemi- otics. “Can anthropology be philosophy?” asks Eduardo Viveiros de Castro in Cannibal Metaphysics. I am so grateful that the import of this question— and its motivating force in my intellectual endeavors—has been opened up to me thanks to these discussions. In addition, I’m indebted to the soulful poets and writers who edified, illuminated and otherwise supported the writing of this book: Noelle Oxenhandler, Alexis Shotwell, Lindy Patterson, Brent Hammer, Clare Marie Myers, Nathan Fawaz, Kaitlin Rothberger, Laura Grant, Andres vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Lequerica, Carmen Nielson, Emily Hutchison, Katherine Binhammer, Dianne Chisholme, Chloë Taylor, Emily Anne Parker, Lissa Skitolsky, Kenna Olsen and, of course, Ely Shipley. Of especial note is Tara Pedersen with whom I have exchanged writings since early grad-school days; she lent such witty and astute ballast to this project. Martin Shuster provided support for the whole endeavor. Namrata Mitra’s keen sense of the philosophically comedic bolstered the project in countless ways. It’s hard to imagine working on this book without the research assistance of Kyle Kinaschuk, whose acuity about pedagogy and its absurdist, at times magical, potential has sharpened my thinking immensely. Many friends shared pedagogical reflections with me, and some of these stories appear in Chap. 5. Humming through the manuscript are insights and citations from David Kangas, whose brilliant and compelling interpretations of Kierkegaard spurred me onto the path of a material- ist encounter with Kierkegaard. David is the reader whose lively skepti- cism I most covet, and since his passing in September 2016 this book has gained an elegiac meaning for me. Stephen Seely reminded me of the passage on Kierkegaard in Deleuze and Guattari’s What is Philosophy?, a suggestion that transformed the project at an early and pivotal time. Peter Finlan shared invaluable insights about yoga practice, teaching and training. María del Rosario Acosta suggested that I think more care- fully about the limitations of existentialism’s resonances with epigenetics, a prompt I continue to muse over. Patricia Pardo met with me several times to discuss the theoretical and pragmatic aspects of universal design in learning. Alexis Shotwell introduced me to the Buddhist slogan “Even the antidote needs to be self-liberating” (not to mention the wonderful “Stop being so predictable”). Suze Berkhout’s collaborations on placebos and their effects fed back into my placebo and epigenetic reflections in wonderful ways. My family is loyal and supportive beyond measure. I thank my brother Dave for unceasing technical and design expertise. And I thank my mother for embodying the kind of creative approach to religious life that sparked many of this book’s preoccupations. I presented early drafts of this project at the following venues and gatherings, for which I am grateful for the lively and productive con- versations they provided me with: the Kierkegaard Religion and Culture group at the American Academy of Religion; Diverse Lineages of Existentialism; the Kierkegaard Circle at the University of Toronto; the University of Alberta Philosophy lecture series and the University ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix of Calgary Religious Studies lecture series; Towson University’s annual philosophy colloquium; and meetings of philoSOPHIA, the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, the Canadian Philosophical Association, the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, and the Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy. In addition, participation at the 2015 Summer Research workshop, “Genocide and Agency: The Nation State and the National Citizen Subject,” at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Jack and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies contributed significantly to the develop- ment of research presented in Chap. 3. An earlier version of Chap. 4 appears in Gender and Education’s special issue, “Shifting Education’s Philosophical Imaginaries” 28(2) 2016. I thank Kate Charlesworth for permission to include her gorgeously smart cartoon, “Let it be a placebo,” in Chap. 4. Research for this book was supported by Mount Royal University in the form of two internal research grants, two learning inquiry grants, a grant from the Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and a sabbatical. c ontents 1 Introduction 1 2 Sex, Secularity and Belief in This World 19 3 The Existential Stakes of Epigenetics 45 4 Placebos and the Materiality of Belief 87 5 Tomatoes in the Classroom 139 6 Is Science Post-secular? 171 Index 223 xi l f ist of igures Fig. 4.1 “Let it be a placebo” 107 xiii
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