Otto Weininger Critical Essay | Critical Essay by W. I. Thomas

Critical Essay by W. I. Thomas

SOURCE: A review of Sex and Character, in The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. II, July, 1905-May, 1906, pp. 843-6.

In the following review of Sex and Character, Thomas admits Weininger's genius and calls the book well worth reading for the unique point of view it brings to the discussion of gender, but also points out that it is uneven in quality, concluding that Weininger's treatise is a "remarkable jumble of insane babble and brilliant suggestion."

No men who really think deeply about women retain a high opinion of them; men either despise women or they have never thought seriously about them. (P. 236.)

Woman is neither high-minded nor low-minded, strong-minded nor weak-minded. She is the opposite of all these. Mind cannot be predicated of her at all; she is mindless. (P. 253.)

Women have no existence and no essence; they are not, they are nothing. Mankind occurs as...
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