Hello Gentlemen…and ladies (?)
Proud to present my debut thread in the Philosophy and Spirituality forum and what better way to start than by questioning and hopefully challenging the status quo. In that case, it’s the male domination of philosophy as a discipline. I am not much of a philosopher but I am aware that historically, all printed philosophical work has been produced by men. I am also aware of that fact Philosophy is one of the oldest subjects studied, and for much of it’s history, women were not allowed to participate in formal higher education. They were systematically prohibited to take part in intellectual debates and show case their brainiac talents, hence for that reason, very few women who entered the field in 21st Century did so without any role models and that could be a huge disadvantage.
The point of this thread is basically to inquire and investigate that why in this day and age, women have failed to overcome the ‘aristocracy of sex’ in philosophy while they look to dominate humanities, science, politics and various other subjects. What could be the possible reasons for lack of female presence in philosophy: could it be the age old reason that philosophy requires reasoning, and women are irrational or is it because it’s hard to take a woman seriously? Perhaps it’s got something to do with the scientific notion that both men and women think differently and due to that perhaps male ways of thinking is more suited to philosophy (if that’s the case, lets define that desired male way of thinking) or is it the case of women lacking the confidence and combative debating style that you often need to break down philosophical arguments?
In your view, what would you see as potential reasons and explanations behind lack of female presence in philosophy? Do you have any favorite female philosophers? Ever had a deeply interesting and long philosophical debate with a woman?
Discuss.
