Philosophy and Literature

Abstract:

According to the authors of the widely discussed Coddling of the American Mind, the protections received in childhood by today's college students made them the fragile souls who have demanded and often obtained protection from "unsafe" ideas. The authors' analysis implicates larger questions than they seem quite prepared to discuss—in particular, what it means to be an agent as opposed to a hapless product of one's upbringing. Investigating this issue, I consult two renowned works of literature that examine the constricted upbringing of women, who were understood as fragile beings long before iGen arrived on the scene.