Plato as a proto-feminist: Tendencies towards the development of feminist thought

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

05/17/2009

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Literature

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Summary :

Introduction
The first issue: Allowing women to be rulers in the Republic
1. Socrates: Does a difference in gender constitutes a difference in nature or physis
2. Socrates and his interlocutors
Women who have natures similar to that of the Guardian men
A very utilitarian argument
A male dominated, menacing perspective of women
Examples on how the Republic is not a feminist argument
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

The idea of plato's Republic being one of the true first pro-feminist arguments seems to have some steam in modern times. However, there seems to be major flaws with these theories. The fact that modern feminism is not grounded in Platonic feminism is perhaps the most striking issue. For, if he were a feminist, one would certainly see some basis of modern feminist ideology in the Republic. It is rather on the contrary, plato himself seems to be just as critical of the female gender as any of his contemporaries such as Aristophanes and Solon. From claims of women being weaker than men in every possible way, to the fact that there is mythology written to justify women as the evil given to men by the gods, there is no possibility of a pure feminist ideology at the time of plato. In this paper I will argue that even though plato shows tendencies towards gender equality, he is far from supporting a fully fledged idea of equality, and at best we can only claim that plato was a proto-feminist.