Newman Studies Journal

What is a woman? After almost 3000 years of commentary on this question, is there a philosophical method that could be used to evaluate which ideas constitute authentic development in our understanding about the nature of women? In her book, The Concept of Woman, Vol. III: In Search for a Communion of Persons, 1500–2015, Sr. Prudence Allen applies Newman's seven "notes" for assessing true doctrinal development from An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine¹ as that methodology. In this volume, she seeks to answer whether there is philosophical proof for integral gender complementarity, one of the classifications of sex and gender theories she identifies in her previous two volumes, particularly as represented in the writings of Pope John Paul II.²

Although her use of Newman's theory of development in this way may not be the obvious methodological choice, Sr. Allen opted to use Newman's criteria as the thematic structure for her third volume because Newman identified similarities between expressions of philosophical and theological principles and expressed that they might be analyzed scientifically (11).³ Newman's first two notes are central to establishing the framework for her text. Newman's first note states that true development must preserve the identity of original type, through all its apparent changes, and the second note states that an idea must maintain continuity of the principles on which it developed from beginning to end. Sr. Allen identifies Aristotle's soul/body unity and Augustine's integral complementarity of women and men as the two initial original types which serve as the foundation for her analysis. She evaluates writings from the Renaissance to the present day, which fall into the four communities of discourse she established [End Page 116] in the previous volume (academic, humanist, religious, and satirical) and builds upon the four areas of questions about the concept of woman established in her first volume (metaphysics, philosophy of nature, wisdom, and virtue). Grouping the representative ideas historically and conceptually, she explores the thought of those writers and thinkers whose ideas regarding women have had a substantial influence on our current concept of woman, as well as more wide-reaching applications and consequences in society. In each era she identifies major philosophical shifts and explains the ways scientific and technological developments contributed to them. Along the way, she determines if their ideas constitute development or corruption based on Newman's seven criteria.

For example, in the introduction Sr. Allen describes Hildegard of Bingen as one writer who affirmed the two original types but added the idea of "synergetic fruitfulness of their interrelations, biologically, personally, and spiritually," which she sees as evidence of the power of assimilation described in Newman's third note (15). Another example is from chapter four, entitled, "The Cartesian Revolution in Sex and Gender Identity," where Sr. Allen argues that Descartes's philosophy of woman's identity in relationship to man does not meet any of the seven criteria. While recognizing the positive contributions of Cartesianism, such as the way reason served as a basis for equality and helped encourage women's equal access to education and citizenship, she demonstrates that Descartes's views do not maintain the two original types.

Because Sr. Allen's premise seems to begin with the end in mind—to find proof for integral complementarity—one might be concerned as to whether she is simply seeking out what would support her primary assumption. However, the diversity of perspectives among the 100+ authors presented in this volume alone helps to lessen this concern. It should be noted that, given her stated focus, her selection is limited to authors representative of Western philosophical thought, which limits ethnic and cultural diversity in this project. A parallel project of Eastern philosophy would be a fascinating comparative project, but within her scope, her selection of authors is comprehensive. She includes...