Drucilla Cornell, an American philosopher, and feminist theorist passed away at 72 years. Drucilla Cornell whose work has been influential in political and legal philosophy, ethics, deconstruction, critical theory, and feminism was pronounced dead on Facebook on Monday, December 12, 2022, by Anwar Uhuru. “There are no words, no songs, nor imagery, to express the brevity of your departure. Rest in honor Drucilla C,
Cornell who was born June 16, 1950, was an emerita professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, and an emerita professor of political science, comparative literature, and women’s and gender studies at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey. She is also a Professor Extraordinaire at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She graduated from Antioch College with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Philosophy and Mathematics in 1978, and the University of California Los Angeles Law School awarded her a Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1981.
Her debut play, a dramatic interpretation of Finnegans Wake that was staged in 1989, is still presented on Bloomsday. Her previous plays, “The Dream Cure,” “Background Interference,” and “Lifeline,” have been performed not only in New York but also in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boca Raton, Florida, and Cape Town, South Africa. Additionally, she has created a documentary movie called uBuntu Hokae about the uBuntu African humanist ethic.
The goal of Cornell’s wide range of work is to consider how political and legal philosophy, feminism, and critical theory could help people envision a more just future. The numerous contributions to feminist legal philosophy by Cornell, including Beyond Accommodation: Ethical Feminism, Deconstruction and the Law (1991), Transformations: Recollective Imagination and Sexual Difference (1993), The Imaginary Domain: Abortion, Pornography and Sexual Harassment (1995), and At The Heart of Freedom: Feminism, Sex, and Equality (1996), are perhaps her most well-known works.
In The Philosophy of the Limit (1992), Cornell famously renamed deconstruction “the philosophy of the limit” and argued for the importance of Jacques Derrida’s writing in terms of politics and ethics. This work is among Cornell’s most well-known and influential contributions to the field of deconstruction. Cornell’s later works, including Just Cause: Freedom, Identity and Rights (2000), Defending Ideals: War, Democracy, and Political Struggles (2004), Moral Images of Freedom: A Future for Critical Theory (2008), and Symbolic Forms for a New Humanity: Cultural and Racial Reconfigurations of Critical Theory, were all inspired by her attempts to rethink law and jurisprudence as the opening of the possibility of justice (co-authored with Kenneth Michael Panfilio, 2010).
