Feminism and Modern Philosophy

by Nye,Andrea

• ISBN13: 9780415266543
• ISBN10: 0415266548
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The history of modern philosophy is a major topic in philosophy and is crucial to an understanding of the advent of feminist philosophy.Feminism and Modern Philosophyintroduces fundamental topics in modern philosophy from a feminist perspective. It takes the student through the subject step by step by looking at the main thinkers most usually examined on a course in modern philosophy and by examining the role of gender in studying classic philosophical texts. The book covers the following structure looking at the ideas and work of the important thinkers in this period: * Rereading the canon * The attack on modernist philosophical reason * The nature of "Man" * The search for male allies * Discovering women philosophers * Are there universal philosophical truths? * The function of history within the discipline of philosophy Each chapter looks closely at the way in which the traditional philosophical canon has been re-interpreted by feminist theory andexamines the implications for our interpretation of specific texts. It looks at, for example: * A feminist critique of Cartesian rationalism * The implications of Locke's state of nature for the idea of the family * An appreciation of Hume's unique "collaboration" with Annette Baier Chapters close with a summary and the book contains an extensive annotated bibliography. Andrea Nye's style is student friendly and will be ideal for anyone coming to the topic for the first time. It will be appropriate for philosophy as well as gender studies courses looking at the development of modern Western thought.

Table of Contents

Preface: living in time	vii
Introduction: shaping a past	1	(11)
1 The virtues of misogyny	12	(22)
2 Descartes: man of reason	34	(14)
3 John Locke and the state of nature	48	(16)
4 Reworking the canon: Anne Conway	64	(20)
5 Jean Jacques Rousseau and the noble savage	84	(15)
6 David Hume: a friend from the past	99	(12)
7 Feminist antinomies: Immanuel Kant	111	(16)
8 Feminist critical theory after Kant	127	(13)
Afterword: the weight of the past	140	(5)
Bibliography of works cited	145	(6)
Index	151