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The Vegetative Soul demonstrates that one significant resource for the postmodern critique of subjectivity can be found in German Idealism and Romanticism, specifically in the philosophy of nature. Miller demonstrates that the perception of German Idealism and Romanticism as the culmination of the philosophy of the subject overlooks nineteenth century critique of subjectivity with reference to the natural world. This book’s contribution is its articulation of a plant-like subjectivity. The vision of the human being as plant combats the now familiar conception of the modern subject as atomistic, autonomous, and characterized primarily by its separability and freedom from nature. Reading Kant, Goethe, Hölderlin, Hegel, and Nietzsche, Miller juxtaposes two strands of nineteenth-century German thought, comparing the more familiar ’animal’ understanding of individuation and subjectivity to an alternative ’plantlike’ one that emphasizes interdependence, vulnerability, and metamorphosis. While providing the necessary historical context, the book also addresses a question that has been very important for recent feminist theory, especially French feminism, namely, the question of the possible configuration of a feminine subject. The idea of the ’vegetative’ subject takes the traditional alignment of the feminine with nature and the earth and subverts and transforms it into a positive possibility. Although the roots of this alternative conception of subjectivity can be found in Kant’s third Critique and its legacy in nineteenth-century Naturphilosophie, the work of Luce Irigaray brings it to fruition.
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THE VEGETATIVE SOUL SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy Dennis J. Schmidt, series editor THE VEGETATIVE SOUL From Philosophy of Nature to Subjectivity in the Feminine Elaine P. Miller STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2002 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 Production by Kelli Williams Marketing by Michael Campochiaro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Miller, Elaine, 1962– The vegetative soul : from philosophy of nature to subjectivity in the feminine / Elaine Miller. p. cm. — (SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5391-X (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5392-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Philosophy of nature—Germany—History—18th century. 2. Botany—Germany—History—18th century. 3. Philosophy of nature—Germany—History—19th century. 4. Botany—Germany—History—19th century. 5. Feminist theory. 6. Subjectivity. I. Title. II. Series. B2748.N35 M55 2002 113'.0943'09034—dc21 2002075918 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABBREVIATIONS INTRODUCTION ONE vii ix 1 KANT 19 The English Gardent TWO GOETHE 45 The Metamorphosis of Plants THREE HÖLDERLIN 79 Gleaning FOUR FIGURES OF PLANT VULNERABILITY 99 Empedocles and the Tragic Christ FIVE HEGEL 119 The Self-Sacrifice of the Innocent Plant SIX NIETZSCHE 149 The Ivy and the Vine CONCLUSION DISSEMINATION, RHIZOMES, EFFLORESCENCE 181 The Legacy of the Vegetative Soul in T