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Feminist Philosophy

Political Philosophy

Feminist philosophy is united by a central concern with gender and typically involves some form of commitment to justice for women, applying feminist insight and critique across every area of philosophy. Feminist ethics, a major subfield, emphasizes care, empathy and relational dependency as moral considerations, though the relationship between feminism and metaphysics remains more contested, with some theorists questioning whether traditional metaphysical methods can be reconciled with a feminist approach at all. Feminist philosophy has also been an important source for arguments for gender equality. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own account
How does gender operate across the domains of philosophy, and what philosophical commitments does justice for women require? 1
Key Debate
Whether Lawrence Kohlberg's stage theory of moral development is right to rank an ethic of individual rights and independence as more mature than an ethic of responsibility and relationship, or whether, as Carol Gilligan argued, this wrongly reads a different moral voice as a lesser one, the dispute that founded the ethics of care. 2
Key DebateSourced to the subject's own account
Whether the fundamental methods and categories of metaphysics can be reconciled with a feminist approach at all, a relationship the field itself describes as precarious. 1
Connections

Associated With

Source Feminist Philosophy (Wikipedia)

Includes

Source Amia Srinivasan (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Helga Varden
Source Kristie Dotson (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Letitia Meynell
Source Luce Irigaray (Wikipedia)
Source Maria Lugones (Wikipedia)
Source Mary Wollstonecraft (Wikipedia)
Source Queer theory (Wikipedia)
Source Sarah Hoagland (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Feminist Philosophy (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Main features section
    Feminist philosophy is united by a central concern with gender.
  • Feminist metaphysics section
    the relationship between feminism and metaphysics remains somewhat precarious.
View the Source
2. Feminist Ethics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and InformationSection 2.2, Ethic of care and relational ethics
Quote, Section 2.2, Ethic of care and relational ethics
Gilligan argues that Kohlberg wrongly prioritizes a "morality of rights" and independence from others as better than, rather than merely different from, a "morality of responsibility" and intimate relationships with others.
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Maria Lugones (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Maria Lugones, Lead
Quote, Includes: Maria Lugones, Lead
María Cristina Lugones (January 26, 1944, July 14, 2020) was an Argentine feminist philosopher, activist, and Professor of Comparative Literature and of women's studies at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and at Binghamton University in New York State.
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Luce Irigaray (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Luce Irigaray, Infobox: main_interests
Quote, Includes: Luce Irigaray, Infobox: main_interests
Linguistics, psychoanalysis, feminist philosophy, gender identity, ethics
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Amia Srinivasan (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Amia Srinivasan, Infobox: main_interests
Quote, Includes: Amia Srinivasan, Infobox: main_interests
Epistemology Political philosophy Feminist philosophy
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Wikipedia: Helga Varden
WikipediaIncludes: Helga Varden, Infobox: main_interests
Quote, Includes: Helga Varden, Infobox: main_interests
Legal philosophy, political philosophy, feminist philosophy
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Kristie Dotson (Wikipedia)
Includes: Kristie Dotson, Lead
Quote, Includes: Kristie Dotson, Lead
Her work specialises in epistemology, metaphilosophy, and black feminist philosophy.
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Wikipedia: Letitia Meynell
WikipediaIncludes: Letitia Meynell, Lead
Quote, Includes: Letitia Meynell, Lead
Her work concerns philosophy of science, epistemology, feminist philosophy, and human/animal relationships.
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Queer theory (Wikipedia)
Includes: Queer Theory, Lead
Quote, Includes: Queer Theory, Lead
As an academic discipline, queer theory itself was developed by American feminist scholars Judith Butler and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.
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Mary Wollstonecraft (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Mary Wollstonecraft, Lead
Quote, Includes: Mary Wollstonecraft, Lead
Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and her works as important influences.
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Sarah Hoagland (Wikipedia)
Includes: Sarah Hoagland, Page categories: Scholars of feminist philosophyView the Source
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