Danish. I review the history of Heloïse and Abelard, including the stormy story of their affair, Abelard’s contributions to philosophy, and Heloïse’s influence on that philosophy, as well as her own critique of gender norms as expressed in the letters that the lovers exchanged many years later. I single out Abelard’s sophisticated view of human psychology, as it emerges from his ethical writings; and what we might call the “proto-deconstructive” aspects of Heloïse’s writing, as she turns the established hierarchy between wives and sex workers on its head.
“Århundredets romance skygger for filosofien” (“The romance of the century overshadows the philosophy”), Politiken Historie (forthcoming). Link.