Fedra Cabrera Solano
Research interests: 19th and 20th century philosophy, Latin American philosophy, sexual ethics, social and political philosophy, aesthetics
My research focuses on questions arising from considering our erotic lives philosophically. Some of these questions include: how and why are our sexual fantasies shaped by the social structures of the world we inhabit? Can erotic love be politically liberatory, and should it be so? What would an erotic pedagogy look like, if we want for it to center liberated pleasure? How does the erotic relate to the ineffable? I approach these questions from a historical, queer and feminist perspective, attending to the work of women thinkers who have asked similar questions and seeking to highlight the fruitfulness of their ideas for thinking about our erotic lives today. The figures I am most interested in are from the 19th and 20th century and include Lou Andreas-Salomé, Simone de Beauvoir, Gabriela Mistral, Clarice Lispector, Marguerite Yourcenar, Gloria Anzaldúa, Audre Lorde, and Edith Stein. I was born in Bogotá, Colombia, where I spent most of my life before coming to the U.S. to study. I hold an AM in philosophy from Harvard and a BA in German studies and philosophy (summa cum laude) from Cornell.