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Hass, Marjorie. Can There Be a Feminist Logic?
1999, In Emanuela Bianchi (ed.), Is Feminist Philosophy Philosophy? Northwestern University Press. pp. 190--201
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Added by: Franci Mangraviti
Abstract:

Can there be a feminist logic? By most accounts the answer would be no. What l find remarkable is the great difference in the justifications provided for this conclusion. The impossibility of feminist logic is defended, on the one hand, on the grounds that logic itself is most fundamentally a form of domination and so is inimical to feminist aims. Other philosophers, while also defending the impossibility of feminist logic, do so from the conviction that it is feminist theory rather than logic that is the problem. For these thinkers, feminism cannot make any interesting or important contribution to logic because feminist theory is fundamentally shallow or misguided. In this paper I will argue that both positions are mistaken: Logic is neither as totalizing as the one side believes nor is feminist theory as inconsequential for logic as the other pole would have it. In the course of these arguments, I describe the work of several feminist logicians, showing the possibility and value of feminist approaches to logic.

Comment (from this Blueprint): Very accessible introduction to the (early) literature on feminist logic, adequate for both a general logic course and a general feminist philosophy course (preferably together with at least one specialized reading). Its presentation of various contrasting positions on the topic should provide fertile grounds for discussion.
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