Classifying women : a solution to the feminist problem of universals

Abstract

In this thesis I aim to make sense of the class of women. Gender classification is an issue that has become central to recent feminist philosophy. In particular, many feminist philosophers have begun asking, how can gender classes be made sense of for feminist political purposes. I will first show why this question is important and why feminist philosophers have come to view gender classification as problematic (chapter 1). I then consider four recent feminist responses to this issue suggested by Marilyn Frye, Iris Marion Young, Natalie Stoljar and Sally Haslanger. I argue that all four responses are inadequate in various ways (chapters 2-5). I then go on to suggest a way in which this issue can be more successfully responded to (chapter 6). In doing so, I draw from the works of G. W. F. Hegel and David Armstrong