Abstract
Humans construct their identity by constantly measuring themselves against and creating themselves around culturally ingrained systems of rules governing the social, the political, and perceptions of the physical. I call a system of rules a “syntax.” When a syntactical system is broken, a monster is born. Our monsters are the litmus and definition of our selves. Using Michel Foucault’s Abnormal lectures to inform my theory of the self as “syntax,” I posit that it is essential to understand the monster in order to exert social change and it is essential to understand what a monster is in order to understand oneself.
Recommended Citation
Melnick, Alexandra
(2017)
"Knowledge is Knowing Frankenstein isn’t the Monster, Wisdom is Knowing Frankenstein is the Monster: An Exploration on Mankind and Monstrosity,"
Acta Cogitata: An Undergraduate Journal in Philosophy: Vol. 3, Article 4.
Available at:
https://commons.emich.edu/ac/vol3/iss1/4