Philosophy and Gender
Independence and Dependence
In what terms should we describe the cultural and political subordination of women?
According to one influential view, women’s subordination lies in certain forms of
dependence that in turn make them unfree. The idea that freedom consists in
independence is currently much discussed, and the aim of this section of the course is
to see how far this analysis of liberty can illuminate gender relations past and present.
We shall begin with two classic works of philosophy, Mary Wollstonecraft’s A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1790), and John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of
Women (1869), each of which offers an account of some significant respects in which
women lack independence. We’ll then move on to examine the extent to which the
idea of freedom as independence can and does inform contemporary discussions of
gendered subordination.
Week 1
The Idea of Freedom as Independence
Required Reading: Pettit, Philip (1996), “Freedom as Antipower”, Ethics, 106 (3):
576-604.
Additional Reading: Sally Haslanger, ‘Oppressions, Racial and Other’ in Resisting
Reality (OUP, 2012)
Week 2
Wollstonecraft on Independence, Education and Domestic Life
Required Reading: Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the
Rights of Woman, ed. Sylvana Tomaselli (Cambridge University Press, 1995),
chapters 6-12.
Also available at:
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitl
e=126&Itemid=28
Additional Reading: Alan M. S. J. Coffee, ‘Mary Wollstonecraft, freedom and the
enduring power of social domination’, European Journal of Political Theory.
http://ept.sagepub.com/content/early/recent
Week 3
Mill on Independence and Access to Public Life
Required Reading: John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women in On Liberty and
Other Writings ed. Stefan Collini, (Cambridge University Press, 1989).
1
Also available at:
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=16357
Additional Reading: Maria Morales, ‘Rational Freedom in John Stuart Mill’s
Feminism’ in Nadia Urbinati and Alex Zakaras eds., J.S. Mill’s Political Thought. A
Bicetennial Reassessment.
Week 4
Independence and Care
Required Reading: Marilyn Freedman, ‘Pettit’s Civic Republicanism and Male
Domination’ in Laborde, Cécile and Maynor, John (eds.) (2008), Republicanism and
Political Theory, (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing), Chapter 8.
Additional reading: Eva Kittay and E.K. Feder, The Subject of Care: Feminist
Perspectives on Dependency, (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), chs 1, 2 and 5.
Week 5
Internalising Dependence: Adaptive Preferences
Required Reading: Serene J. Khader, Adaptive Preferences and Women’s
Empowerment (available at Oxford Scholarship Online), chapters 1 and 2.
Additional reading: Ann Levey, ‘Liberalism, Adaptive Preference and Gender
Equality’, Hypatia 20 (2005).
Essay Questions
1.
According to Wollstonecraft, the situation of women undermines the freedom
of both women and men. Critically assess her analysis of the ways in which it does
so.
2.
3.
Can Pettit’s account of arbitrary interference satisfactorily determine when
women are and are not dependent?
3.
‘Mill’s tacit appeal to what is natural undermines his account of the subjection
of women.’ Critically assess this claim.
4
Are caring relations incompatible with independence, and thus with a
republican conception of freedom?
5.
Analyse the role and limitations of care in helping dependent groups to
become more independent
5
When is a preference adaptive?
2
Pettit, Philip, ‘Republican Freedom: Three Axioms, Four Theorems’ in Laborde and
Maynor eds., Republicanism and Political Theory, Chapter 5.And other papers,
see above.
Clare Chambers, Culture, Sex and Justice. The Limits of Choice.
Susan Okin, Is Multiculturalism bad for Women?
Catriona Mackenzie and Natalie Stoljar. Feminist Perspectives on Autonomy, Agency
and the Social Self
Nancy Hirschman, The Subject of Liberty. Toward a Feminist theory of Freedom
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