WEININGER Otto. Gender and character. A fundamental dissection, 1-2 sets. Translated by Ostar Ortwin. Third edition. Warsaw 1926. library of scientific works. pp. 319, [1]; 316, [2]; 20cm.
Hardcover in leather with gilt on spine. Good condition.
Otto Weininger (1880-1903) - Austrian philosopher of Jewish origin. His most famous work is the book Sex and Character (1903), in which he posits that there is both a male and female element in every human being, identifying the former with morality and logic, and the latter with vanity, brashness and lack of knowledge. He also mentions a similar division between the Christian and Jewish religions - he compares Christians to men, and Jews to women (Weininger himself, though a Jew by origin, became a Christian). The book is full of contempt for women, being even an exemplary example of misogyny. Weininger considers women to be such despicable creatures that, in his words, "rightly nothing is so contemptible as a man who has transformed himself into a woman." "Gender and Character" became famous after the spectacular suicide of the 23-year-old author (he shot himself in the room rented for the purpose, where Beethoven died) shortly after the book was published. Weininger himself, in turn, gained popularity in the bohemian circles of the time. Chapter titles - Male and Female Psychology, Motherhood and Prostitution, Eroticism and Aesthetics, The Essence of Woman and Her Significance in the Universe, Jewishness, Woman and Humanity.
