Abstract

In this paper, I want to examine the contributions that women have made to the discipline of philosophy, particularly in the area of ethics, although we know that traditionally women have not been included in the philosophic canon. One possible explanation for this might be the fact that male philosophers have argued, women were not as rational as men. Aristotle, for example, held this view and therefore argued that women are naturally ruled by men. Kant agreed with him and further argued that therefore women should have no voice in public life. Jean-Jacques Rousseau joined in the chorus and argued that men and women had different virtues and it so happened that male virtues were suited for leadership while female virtues were suited for the home. As we know, the second wave of the women’s movement in the 60s and 70s has rejected these views and has argued that the distinction made between men and women, namely men being rational and women emotional, was simply a stereotype. More recently, female philosophers have revisited this position and argued that women do in some instances think differently than men, but it does not necessarily follow that the way women think is inferior to that of men, nor that they should therefore be subordinated to men. Quite the contrary, the way women think might lead to insights that have been ignored by male philosophers, particularly in ethics. It is in the ethics of care that contemporary women philosophers have made their most significant contributions to the discipline of philosophy.