A philosophical exploration of birth, maternity, and reproduction. Winner of the 2007 Symposium Book Award presented by Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy

Winner of the 2007 Symposium Book Award presented by Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy

The Gift of the Other brings together a philosophical analysis of time, embodiment, and ethical responsibility with a feminist critique of the way women's reproductive capacity has been theorized and represented in Western culture. Author Lisa Guenther develops the ethical and temporal implications of understanding birth as the gift of the Other, a gift which makes existence possible, and already orients this existence toward a radical responsibility for Others. Through an engagement with the work of Levinas, Beauvoir, Arendt, Irigaray, and Kristeva, the author outlines an ethics of maternity based on the givenness of existence and a feminist politics of motherhood which critiques the exploitation of maternal generosity.

Lisa Guenther is a writer and editor based in rural northwestern Saskatchewan. She has previously written for Grainews and Country Guide, and is currently the editor of Canadian Cattlemen magazine. Her farm journalism has received awards from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation and the North American Association of Agricultural Journalists. Her previous novel, Friendly Fire, was shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award and placed second in the Saskatchewan Writers Guild's John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award. When she's not writing, editing or reading, Lisa enjoys horseback riding and getting out on the land.

Lisa Guenther's profile page