Talk:Otto Weininger

False Balance in Introduction

To say that "Some people believe that some of Weininger's ideas are misogynistic and antisemitic, while others believe that his work represents timeless genius." creates the impression that both camps are about equal in size and stature, when, in fact, contemporary scholars agree that his ideas *are* "misogynistic and antisemitic." That is not to say that Weininger's adherents should not be mentioned, but that should only happen in the article's body, not in the introduction. As it stands, the introduction violates the Neutral Point of View policy. I suggest to remove that sentence. It doesn't convey any factual information at any rate.

-- Odkr (talk) 10:58, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

Since nobody objected I removed that sentence, though his misogyny and his views on Jewish people should still be mentioned.

-- Odkr (talk) 21:38, 15 July 2018 (UTC)

Relationships and Self-Hatred

Did Weininger ever have a wife or a girlfriend? I think this insight into his personal life is essential to the article as it directly relates to his book. Also, though this may seem POV, should it be mentioned that Weininger may be considered, on some level at least, a Self-hating Jew?

Now mentioned. Errantius (talk) 02:45, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

Picture

This page could use a picture of the man. --Alf ^melmac 10:50, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

I just added a link which contains some good ones. Michael David 17:26, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

It may be that Hitler did read Weininger. Look at this page which contains exerpts from a book called Hitler's Vienna by Brigitte Hamann [1].

03:52, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Hyperlinks

Does anyone think that perhaps there are too many internal links on this page, particularly the section on "Sex and Character"? Does anyone want to pare them down? So why there is NOT an article to sex and character, one of the most original works of the Wien circle, deeply influential to Wittgenstein among others?

I wonder (-;l

JEW

He was Jewish, this should be added to the article.

It is mentioned that Weininger was a Jew in the Sex and Character section. 22:44, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it is obvious from his name, and from his picture. (In 1880, before the Czech mass immigration started, Vienna was a predominantly Jewish city, like Prague, Cracow, and Lemberg.) I think this is the main reason for his anti-semitism. He was like so many converted Jews who wanted to prove that they were REAL GOOD CHRISTIANS by now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.0.150.245 (talk) 07:23, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

1. Both Weininger and Otto are perfectly normal German names. I know that German names themselves sound somewhat Jewish outside of Germany-speaking countries, but that's because both Jews and non-Jewish Germans are foreigners there. 2. I wouldn't know how that would be clear from the picture. 3. While it is generally true that converts are more enthousiast than "cradle-believers" (without the need to disparage anything of it), the 19th century and precisely the Jewish-Christian conversions were the exception to the rule here. Heinrich Heine had himself baptized and intended this to mean "I am no longer a Jew; I assimilate" without any specific interest of believing in Christianity (as far as I'm aware). Weininger himself seems to have genuinely believed in his own brand of Christianity, but the point ís "his own brand"; what he wrote obviously contained heresy from both the Protestant and Catholic point of view. (For instance, to Weininger, Christ is either "the Jew who overcame his Jewishness" or "the representative of the old People of Israel who realized what was best in it, while the Jews realized what was worst in it" - not sure which. But there is nothing, nothing, mentioned about such a basic Christian doctrine as that about the Son of God who took flesh and dwelt among us.)--2001:A61:260D:6E01:BC88:2342:AA13:24AE (talk) 15:56, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Influences

Chirico was influenced by Weininger: http://www.jstor.org/pss/3049787 As was Cioran: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Weininger#Influences

98.207.239.32 (talk) 19:16, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Günter Grass

Some mention should be made of Günter Grass's scathing references to Sex and Character in Dog Years. Sca (talk) 19:52, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Misunderstood?

Personally i think Weininger's Sex and Character is very much misunderstood. Basically, his argument is that a person can have both good and bad qualities. And he simply used the word "Jewish" and "female" to denote the bad qualities. Any male underachiever would have the qualities of a "Jewish women" under Weininger's definition. And women of any race who has done great things would have the qualities of an "Aryan man" by the same logic. Philosophy.dude (talk) 01:20, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

And that makes it all right then? Yipee, a woman by doing 'great things' can qualify as an honorary man and thus as a human being. Yay. Newsflash - you don't have to be in "academic circles" - as the orignator of this article coyly puts it - to see the rampant misogyny/antisemitism inherent in the idea that "bad" qualities are coded as female/Jewish, *dude*. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.161.209.38 (talk) 11:48, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Why did he commit suicide?

After reading the article, I still don't understand. I think it is not clearly stated in the article, is it? I understand that there may be no certain answer to such questions, but some speculations on the possible reason of his suicide can also help a lot. --Betty (talk) 17:33, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Views on race

The article currently says "Isolated parts of Weininger's writings were used by Nazi propaganda, despite the fact that Weininger actively argued against the ideas of race that came to be identified with the Nazis." The quotes that follow as a comparative example seem to support the case that he held a similar view as the Nazis. So... are there any external analyses of this? Trying to compare one selected quote against another smacks of WP:OR. Grayfell (talk) 08:34, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

"Philosopher"

Are there any philosophical dictionaries or encyclopedia's which cite Weininger as a philosopher? Any secondary or tertiary philosophical texts which deal with his theories? He was a curious cultural phenomenon, but is there any real support for calling him a philosopher?KD Tries Again (talk) 14:19, 2 April 2015 (UTC)KD Tries Again

According to de:Otto Weininger#Wirkungsgeschichte, Sigmund Freud called him "a highly talented and sexually disturbed young philosopher". -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 08:59, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Still, the way in which the term "philosopher" is used has changed since Freud's days. Contemporary philosophers don't count him among their ranks. Perhaps, "author" would be clearer. -- Odkr (talk) 10:50, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

Yes - changed to "thinker" (Janik). Errantius (talk) 02:55, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

Joyce?

What's the source for him having an influence, and on Strindberg for that matter? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:69C1:2A00:B506:1248:8F03:92DB (talk) 07:44, 27 September 2018 (UTC)

What's the source for him having an influence on Joyce is what I meant to say. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:69C1:2A00:9102:9936:85D2:3A26 (talk) 01:31, 28 September 2018 (UTC)

Propose merge of Sex and Character

I propose to merge Sex and Character into this article. Actually, since Sex and Character says nothing that is not already in this article—indeed, some sections are already identical—that would amount to deleting Sex and Character. The book's arguments are important only historically, which I think is or can be brought out sufficiently in this article. The book article's Talk query about translating Geschlecht can be transferred. Errantius (talk) 01:26, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

I have made those changes and have made a formal merge proposal. Errantius (talk) 21:45, 21 February 2020 (UTC)

Merged content from Sex and Character, article now deleted, to here. Errantius (talk) 23:41, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Title

[From merged article Sex and Character: Errantius (talk) 23:43, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

About the title of this book, should it not be more correct as: "Gender and Character?" Richard Sidler 04:27, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I think that would be at least to attribute to Weininger, anachronistically, a distinction that became important only later in the century. In any case, however, Geschlecht has an emphasis upon the sexual act, upon generation, and, from that, it can mean "race"—which Weininger also has in mind. So "Sex", as in the published translation, seems acceptable. Errantius (talk) 05:04, 22 February 2020 (UTC)

How was OW an influence on Joyce?

The introduction reads: "Weininger was a large influence on Ludwig Wittgenstein, August Strindberg, and relatively on James Joyce." I'm confused s to what "relatively" means -- whoever wrote that, or if someone knows what it means, somewhere in the text it might be expanded upon, even if just a sentence. If not, perhaps the term "relativelY" should be removed and just have it left as an influence, since it only causes confusion rather than elucidation the way it is. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sychonic (talk • contribs) 22:35, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

Issue resolved: I clarified the nature of the influence and added two sources attesting to the link between the article subject and Joyce. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.156.179.6 (talk) 23:35, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

I will complete the additions from the German page

and then remove the little mark at the top of the page within due time. StrongALPHA (talk) 11:07, 24 May 2023 (UTC)