PHIL 390 | Gender and Philosophy

This course is a study of a number of philosophical and political questions related to gender and with the relation between these two types of questions. The course will be concerned first, with some metaphysical issues concerning gender: What is gender? Are gender terms purely natural categories or are they to some extent socially constructed? Second, with epistemological issues that relate to gender difference: Do women, for example, see the world differently from men? What kind of implications does this have for scientific and philosophical knowledge? Finally, with ethical issues related to gender: Granted that everyone has an equal right to flourishing regardless of gender, are there gender variations related to what constitutes flourishing? To what extent are we culturally biased when we think that those who don’t conform to the gender norms of other cultures are oppressed? In investigating questions such as these, the course will consider a diversity of perspectives, exploring intersections between gender and other social categories such as race or class and contrasts among different gender theories.