This thesis advances a novel ‘existential’ account of sexual objectification. The first part argues that we ought to abandon theories that understand objectification in terms of being treated, or regarded, as objects. Instead, I put forward an alternative analysis that centres on objective aspects our being. I draw from phenomenology to argue that objectification involves an attempt to grasp the objectified in and through a kind of ‘objectified living body’; that is, objectification is an attempt to capture subjects in a mode of their embodied existence that is morally and politically harmful. The second part of the thesis applies this analysis to underexplored kinds of objectification that existing accounts struggle to grasp; including sexual exclusion, masculine sex objects, and objectification’s role in constructing our embodiment itself. The thesis closes with a reflection on implications this account has for our understanding of bodily intimacy.

Love

I am broadly interested in the nature and value of love and intimate relationships. Currently, I am especially interested in ‘passionate loves’ such as crushes, Eros, infatuations, etc. I think there is a lack of philosophical clarity around different species of passionate love, as well as a lack of positive evaluations (epistemic, moral, etc.) of those varieties of loves. I hope to develop this into a post-doc project.