PHILOS 1E03 Lecture 12: PHILOS- Lecture Twelve (Dec. 2.15)
Document Summary
In this final week we will continue our examination of justice, this time connecting it with issues in feminist philosophy. We begin with simone de beauvoir"s eloquent statement of the position of women in modern society. It is feminist, and at the same time a clear statement of existentialist principles our first encounter in this course with existentialism. The reading from john rawls showcases his classic contribution to the liberal theory of justice. Okin"s paper nicely brings the issues together, by considering the status of women in classical theories of justice like rawls"s. One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. No biological, psychological or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society; it is civilization as a whole that determines this creature. (849) Woman is a creature neither decisive nor constant augustine (859). Gender (in this sense) is constructed socially, historically. It is contingent, and is not something given .
