BÁRBARA DE PINA CABRAL

This project traces the genealogy of binary thought in Western modernity, using The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir as a focal point. The investigation aims to understand the interconnection of hierarchical categories in modernity, such as male/female, mind/body, and civilization/nature. Drawing from Nietzschean perspectives, we explore perspectivism as an alternative to rigid thinking. Our study focuses on modern philosophical discourse, analyzing binary constructs and their implications. The central rationale lies in investigating binary experience as a limiting factor, enforcing rigid poles. The binary system not only denies the existence of in-between but also rejects alternative valuations, neglecting the concept of becoming. A deep analysis reveals the logic of exclusion inherent in this model, forming the basis for authoritarianism, elitism, and conservatism. Directed towards the "Other," binary understanding demarcates differences, perpetuating the "us versus them" dichotomy.