Course Descriptions

Feminist Philosophy

Alex Guerrero and Louise Antony

This course will focus on seven classic works of feminist philosophy.  The first three books are focused on the personal, moral, and social.  The second three books extend that focus more explicitly to the political and global.  We will also have a week focused on the work of bell hooks, which sits somewhat between these two.  Common themes and concerns will emerge: questions about the historical and cultural specificity of sex, gender, and gender roles; questions about the different guises of patriarchy and hierarchy; questions about how individuals fit (or not) within the dominant cultural roles that would be assigned to them and how to balance respect for individuals with respect for cultures, particularly with respect to questions of feminism and autonomy; and questions about the role for states and other institutions with respect to settling and addressing these concerns.  But these texts raise many other issues as well, and we hope to engage each text fully and on its own terms.