Edith Stein’s An Investigation Concerning the State: Sociality, Nationhood, Ethics

This book explores Edith Stein's phenomenology of the state. It features chapters on the application of Stein’s political philosophy to real issues and questions affecting nations today. The contributors also situate Stein’s political theory within her larger philosophical corpus.

The collection examines An Investigation Concerning the State from various angles. Scholars first consider some of the direct claims Stein makes about social and political ontology. They mine her work for its implications for and applications to contemporary debates. Then, the contributors position her work in relation to other figures in phenomenology, including Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler. Finally, Stein’s views are brought to bear on other disciplines, including feminism, theology, and literature.  The contributors also use her theory of the state to address various contemporary issues, including bioethics and rights, globalization, as well as social and political inequality.

The view of the state that emerges has implications for how we do politics and make ethical decisions. Moreover, Stein's work has an impact on our views of sociality (as opposed to the sociality of contractarian views of the state), pedagogy, women, theories of justice and law, as well as social psychology and religion. This volume helps readers better understand this vital voice in political philosophy and appeals to students, professors, and researchers working in the field.  

Chapter 1: Introduction (Eva Reyes Gacitúa and Antonio Calcagno).- Chapter 2: Bioethical Implications of Edith Stein’s An Investigation Concerning the Stat (Alberto Rojas Osorio).- Chapter 3: The Concept of Individual Person in An Investigation Concerning the State of Edith Stein (César Lambert Ortiz).- Chapter 4: The Issue of State Power and Its Abuses as Shown by the Literary Texts of Gertrud von le Fort in the light of Edith Stein’s An Investigation Concerning the Stat (Clemens Franken).- Chapter 5: The Role of Empathy in the Edith Stein’s Theory of the State (Eduardo González Di Pierro).- Chapter 6: Persons in Chilean Positive Law in Relation to Edith Stein’s Account of the State (María Eliana Martínez Fernández).- Chapter 7: Woman and State: A Reading of Edith Stein (Eva Reyes-Gacitúa).- Chapter 8: The Justification of the Modern State in An Investigation Concerning the State of Edith Stein with relation to Political Theology (Fredy Parra Carrasco).-Chapter 9: State and Mysticism (Juan Francisco Pinilla Aguilera).- Chapter 10: Sovereignty and Ethical Exigencies of the State (Luis Mariano de la Maza).- Chapter 11: Certain Legal and Philosophical Presuppositions About the Idea of Law in Edith Stein’s An Investigation Concerning the Stat (Marcelo Gidi Thumala, Sj).- Chapter 12: The People and Its Relation to the State in Edith Stein’s An Investigation Concerning the Stat (Marcela Aranda Escobar).- Chapter 13: The Place of the Notion of State in Phenomenology (Mariano Crespo).- Chapter 14: Forms of the State. An approach to the work of Edith Stein from its Aristotelian influences (María Esther Gómez).- Chapter 15: The Present Process of the  Constitutional Assembly and the Relevance of Edith Stein’s An Investigation Concerning the State(Soledad Alvear).- Chapter 16: The Challenges Posed by the Community of Law-Givers and Law-Followers in Edith Stein’s Idea of the State (Antonio Calcagno).