drs. Elisabeth Van Dam

Elisabeth Van Dam (°1986, Belgium) is a dancer, sculptor and philosopher and works as a Fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) at the Centre for Critical Philosophy.
Elisabeth trained at CODARTS University for the Arts Rotterdam Dance Academy in the Netherlands and studied at Ghent University, Belgium. She obtained a Master in the Science of Arts, a Minor in Literature and wrote a Master Dissertation in Philosophy. She currently completes her skills as a sculptor at the KASK Royal Academy of Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium.

Elisabeth shapes her Phd in Philosophy by focusing on the ethical-aesthetic questions: ‘How to express our human powers as a whole, preceding the opposition between real and ideal, practice and theory?’ and ‘What is the relationship between the formative power of our particular, contingent lives and the expressive principle of creation?’. Specializing in the way these questions were addressed from two pivotal epochs, the turn of the century Germany between late 18th century Enlightenment and early 19th century Romanticism and fin-de-siècle Vienna at the dawn of modernism, she investigates the organic, formative, constitutive aesthetic at work in the Lebensphilosophien of Kant, Lichtenberg, Goethe, Schiller, Schlegel and Wittgenstein. Central in her elaboration of these figures are the border notions Kraft, tension, Trieb, pathology, morphology, Metamorphose, Gestalt, Bildung, Lebensform, Stil, Spiel and harmony.

Besides her interest in the formative realization of human powers from a philosophical perspective, Elisabeth also questions this issue from a Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytic stance. From her background as a professional dancer she developed an interest in the philosophy of dance and performative philosophy.

Publications

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  • 2015

    • Gesprekken met Goethe: over de Gesamtgestaltung van de moderne mens

      Van Dam, E. (2015). Gesprekken met Goethe: over de Gesamtgestaltung van de moderne mens. Universiteit Gent. Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte, Gent.
  • 2013

    • Wittgenstein lights Lichtenberg's candle: flashlights of enlightenment in Wittgenstein's thought

      Van Dam, E. (2013). Wittgenstein lights Lichtenberg’s candle: flashlights of enlightenment in Wittgenstein’s thought. In S. Bru, W. Huemer, & D. Steuer (Eds.), Wittgenstein reading (Vol. 2, pp. 103–113). De Gruyter.
    • In the name of atheism: a critical response to Philipp Blom's book 'A wicked company'

      Van Dam, E. (2013). In the name of atheism: a critical response to Philipp Blom’s book “A wicked company.” PHILOSOPHICA, 88, 127–135.
    • Mowgli's tranen: een morfologie van de subjectwording

      Van Dam, E. (2013). Mowgli’s tranen: een morfologie van de subjectwording.
  • 2012

    • Psychoanalyse en filosofie: relaas van een turbulente relatie

      De Kock, L., & Van Dam, E. (2012). Psychoanalyse en filosofie: relaas van een turbulente relatie.
    • Kant's 'Beantwortung der Frage: was ist Aufklärung?' in het licht van de Ander

      Van Dam, E. (2012). Kant’s “Beantwortung der Frage: was ist Aufklärung?” in het licht van de Ander. PSYCHOANALYTISCHE PERSPECTIEVEN, 30(1), 29–42.
    • Psychoanalytische perspectieven

      Geerardyn, F., Van de Vijver, G., Van Dam, E., & De Kock, L. (Eds.). (2012). Psychoanalytische perspectieven.
    • Beantwoording van de vraag : wat is verlichting?

      Van Dam, E., & Geerardyn, F. (2012). Beantwoording van de vraag : wat is verlichting? PSYCHOANALYTISCHE PERSPECTIEVEN, 30(3), 339–345.
    • (Van) filosofie naar de natuur: Goethe's overgave

      Van Dam, E. (2012). (Van) filosofie naar de natuur: Goethe’s overgave.
  • 2011

    • On space: on time: Kant's transcendental aesthetic as receptacle for the manifold of the dancer

      Van Dam, E. (2011). On space: on time: Kant’s transcendental aesthetic as receptacle for the manifold of the dancer. Thinking through Dance : The Philosophy of Dance Performance and Practices, Abstracts. Presented at the Thinking Through Dance : The Philosophy of Dance Performance and Practices, London, UK.

Type :

  • Book chapter
  • Journal article
  • Other
  • Edited book
  • All

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