Monday, October 09, 2006

Today's topic: Sex and Race

The soul is the essential distinctive of humankind. That makes sex and race so much window dressing... Sadly, we have a tendency to notice differences between the sexes and races rather than how we are similar. Henry M. Braken recounts a sad history of racism where "...we get into the ranking business in the first place because we want to justify...our pushing people around" (269). Who says philosophers can't get to the point?

John Stuart Mill's assessment, "...what is contrary to women's nature to do, they will never be made to do by simply giving their nature full play" (161) is interesting as it reveals the philosopher's gender bias -- it is implied that man's nature is the mean. (And he was advocating for women's rights!) That said, the essential point he was making is still valid. Women have more opportunity than they've had in the past and are thriving. That would indicate to me that the "weakness" or "differences" of the past had more to do with the way society functioned than a distinctive female nature.

WORK CITED

Stevenson, Leslie (ed.). The Study of Human Nature. New York: Oxford, 2000.

1 comment:

Tara Lamont said...

Thanks for recognizing the affect that society has upon a persons opportunity and place in life. Thanks for making we feel/know that anything is possible!
Tara