engleski

The Mind Has No Sex

There are several moments in history that contributed to more intense engagements of women in scientific and philosophical endeavours. Some of them include the novelty brought by humanism, more particularly the special emphasis put on human dignity, which diminishes strict differentiations between men and women, typical of the Middle Ages. Further, because of the (relative) multitude of women engaged in philosophy the culture of the seventeenth century is marked by “Enlightenment feminism”. Although the extent and character of the connection between the Enlightenment and the rise of feminism still remains covered with a veil of obscurity, it can (at least partially) be attributed to some specific moments of Descartes’ and Locke’s philosophies. Cartesian metaphysics played a significant role and many seventeenth century women were inspired by Descartes’ dualism to assert their intellectual equality with men ; for if, as Descartes argued, mind has no extension, then it also has no sex. (E.g. as a part of his attempt to secure a place for women in scientific culture, the Cartesian Francois Poullain de la Barre asserted as long ago as 1673 that “the mind has no sex”). Moreover, the elegance of Descartes’ writing must have contributed to the accessibility of the text to the audience deprived of previous academic background in philosophy. On the other hand, Locke’s emphasis on individual autonomy and political justice were also central to the ideas of Enlightenment. His attack on the patriarchal model of political authority had far-reaching effects. On the other hand, some other, particularly post-Kantian, interpretations of Descartes’ philosophy had an opposite effect: they created a sort of an outburst of misogyny specific of the nineteenth century. The response to this particularly acute misogyny of the nineteenth century was a new emergence of feminism as we have in the twentieth century.

mind; sex; women

nije evidentirano