The Accidental Theorist: The Double Helix of Everyday Life- Book 1

The Accidental Theorist , first in a «Hestia trilogy», introduces the Hestian/Hermean Dual Systems Paradigm as a lens of analysis through which to view the private/public and the familial/political in feminist philosophy and theory. Tracing the split between the oikos and the polis in fifth century BCE Greece, Professor Thompson identifies two consistent orientations in human toward the homeplace – symbolized by Hestia, and the marketplace – symbolized by Hermes. She proposes that a complementary «hestianeutic» be added to conventional «hermeneutic» interpretations of texts. These dual orientations are as significant as gender for interpreting the phenomena of everyday life. They form the basis of an alternative perspective she calls «Hestian Feminism» as a prolegomenon to a new humanism for the new millennium.