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Work #1642 · Early

The Church and the Second Sex

Mary Daly
1968 (rev. 1975) · English
Theological-feminist monograph · Catholic feminism / second-wave radical feminism / post-Vatican-II theology

Daly's 1968 'Church and the Second Sex' — Catholic-feminist critique of patriarchy in the Roman Church (later renounced)

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Church and the Second Sex (Early)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Both
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Impersonal
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Relational
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Church and the Second Sex

1968 first edition; 1975 substantially revised second edition; 1985 third with additional afterwords. Daly was 40 at first publication.

Space

The Church and the Second Sex

Boston College — the Jesuit institution where Daly was a junior faculty member when she wrote the book. Her near-firing in 1969 (and successful reinstatement after student protests) shaped her subsequent career and her movement to a post-Christian position.

Matter

The Church and the Second Sex

Single feminist-theological monograph (~240 pages first ed.; ~280 pages with subsequent introductions). Form is essayistic-systematic with extensive historical-theological documentation.

Observer

The Church and the Second Sex

Early Daly. The observer-philosopher is in the moment of transition between Catholic reformist position (1968) and post-Christian radical-feminist position (1975).

Energy

The Church and the Second Sex

Founding feminist-theological energies. The book is the most concentrated single document of the late-1960s transition from Catholic-reformist feminism to post-Christian radical-feminism.

Information

The Church and the Second Sex

Single book with later autocritical introduction. The doubled-edition structure (1968 + 1975 + 1985 expansions) is itself a thematic document of the transition the book records.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Church and the Second Sex

Daly's first book; Catholic-feminist starting point that she would later renounce. The 1968 edition founded Catholic feminist theology; the 1975 'Postchristian' edition founded post-Christian feminist theology. Both positions remain live in subsequent religious-feminist literature.