Filters

Topics (hold ctrl / ⌘ to select more)

Languages (hold ctrl / ⌘ to select more)

Traditions (hold ctrl / ⌘ to select more)

Times

- or

Medium:

 
 
 
 

Recommended use:

 
 
 
 

Difficulty:

 
 
 

Read freeBlue print
Russell, Gillian. From Anti-Exceptionalism to Feminist Logic
2023, Hypatia, forthcoming

Expand entry

Added by: Franci Mangraviti
Abstract:

Anti-exceptionalists about formal logic think that logic is continuous with the sciences. Many philosophers of science think that there is feminist science. Putting these two things together: can anti-exceptionalism make space for feminist logic? The answer depends on the details of the ways logic is like science and the ways science can be feminist. This paper wades into these details, examines five different approaches, and ultimately argues that anti-exceptionalism makes space for feminist logic in several different ways.

Comment:
available in this Blueprint

Full textBlue print
Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the Logic of Alterity
2002, In Falmagne, R.J. and Hass, M. eds. Representing Reason: Feminist Theory and Formal Logic. Rowman & Littlefield

Expand entry

Added by: Franci Mangraviti

Introduction: Plumwood’s second essay uses logical distinctions to map the difficult terrain of feminist theories of difference. By carefully distinguishing among forms of difference, Plumwood refutes attempts by some feminist theorists to identify dichotomous thinking with oppressive thinking.

Comment (from this Blueprint): Helpful in clarifying the views presented in Plumwood's "The politics of reason: towards a feminist logic". It is also a possible pick for any course interested in looking specifically at negation from feminist perspectives, in which case it is best paired with some of the feminist critiques of negation she challenges (e.g. Nancy Jay's "Gender and dichotomy", or Frye's "The necessity of differences").

Full text
Russell, Gillian. Logic: A Feminist Approach
2020, In Garchar, Kimberly K. and Shew, Melissa M. (Ed.). Philosophy for girls: An invitation to a life of thought, pp. 79-98

Expand entry

Added by: Franci Mangraviti
Abstract:

This chapter asks whether there is any such thing as feminist logic. It defines feminism and logic, and then goes on to present and evaluate four possible views, introducing and critiquing the work of Andrea Nye, Val Plumwood, and Susan Stebbing. It argues that Stebbing’s approach—on which feminism is one among many political applications of logic—is correct, but that feminist logic could do more, by providing a formal framework for the study of social hierarchies, much as it presently provides a formal framework for the study of numbers and similarity rankings among possible worlds.

Comment: Ideal for an intro course to either feminist philosophy or logic, to introduce possible interactions between the fields. More advanced courses (in either direction) might want to adopt G. Russell's "From Anti-Exceptionalism to Feminist Logic" instead, which covers the same topic in a lot more detail.

Full textBlue print
Plumwood, Val. The Politics of Reason: Towards a Feminist Logic
1993, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 71(4): 436-462

Expand entry

Added by: Franci Mangraviti
Abstract:

The author argues that there is a strong connection between the dualisms that have strengthened and naturalized systematic oppression across history (man/woman, reason/emotion, etc.), and "classical" logic. It is suggested that feminism's response should not be to abandon logic altogether, but rather to focus on the development of alternative, less oppressive forms of rationality, of which relevant logics provide an example.

Comment (from this Blueprint): This is a seminal text of feminist logic, and thus a natural pick for any course wanting to discuss the topic. It could however also be assigned in a course on relevant logics interested in discussing particular applications, especially if such a course has previously spent time on the arguments in Plumwood's "False laws of logic" (or more generally, in Sylvan&co's "Relevant logics and their rivals"). Eckert and Donahue's "Towards a Feminist Logic" is a useful reading companion.

Full textRead free
Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature
1994, Routledge.

Expand entry

Added by: Anne-Marie McCallion
Publisher’s Note:

Two of the most important political movements of the late twentieth century are those of environmentalism and feminism. In this book, Val Plumwood argues that feminist theory has an important opportunity to make a major contribution to the debates in political ecology and environmental philosophy. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature explains the relation between ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, and other feminist theories including radical green theories such as deep ecology. Val Plumwood provides a philosophically informed account of the relation of women and nature, and shows how relating male domination to the domination of nature is important and yet remains a dilemma for women.

Comment: Val Plumwood (11 August 1939 – 29 February 2008) was an Australian philosopher and ecofeminist known for her work on anthropocentrism. From the 1970s she played a central role in the development of radical ecosophy. Working mostly as an independent scholar, she held positions at the University of Tasmania, North Carolina State University, the University of Montana, and the University of Sydney. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature draws on the feminist critique of reason to argue that the master form of rationality of western culture has been systematically unable to acknowledge dependency on nature, the sphere of those it has defined as ‘inferior’ others. Plumwood illuminates the relationship between women and nature, and between ecological feminism and other feminist theories. This chapter on Feminism and Ecofeminism is situated here in the list because it furthers the critical evaluation of nature which Menon draws by turning the discussion on it’s head. Whilst Menon illustrates the ways in which the of nature is utilised as a means of distorting ‘moral’ and political action, Plumwood illustrates the ways in which the concept of nature itself has been distorted and corrupted by colonial and patriarchal realities.

Can’t find it?
Contribute the texts you think should be here and we’ll add them soon!