Feminist Philosophy (Feminist Theory and Politics)

280 Pages·2004·64.639 MB·English

by  Herta Nagl-Docekal, Katharina Vester

HERTA NAGL-DOCEKAL
KATHARINA VESTER
TRANSLATED BY

FEMINIST
PHILOSOPHY

F E M I N I S T
PHILOSOPHY
HERTA NAGL-DOCEKAL
Translated by !Catharina Vester
J
Foreword by Alison M. aggar
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Foreword by Alison M. ]aggar
VII
Acknowledgments
XI
Introduction:
Feminist Philosophy Under
Post-feminist Conditions
XIII
l On the Anthropology of the Sexes 1
Why there is no natural order of the sexes, l
Corporality as an issue off reedom, 9
Are binary oppositions discriminating speech acts, 15
Cartesianis1n: A reproach that needs further precision, 18
Sex/Gender: How a long-running debate could come
to a conclusion, 22
2 Art and Femininity 41
Art isgendered, 41
Sigtnt,nd Freud and the woman artist, 45
Writing with white ink, 5 8
Feminist aesthetics, 73
3 Reason: A Concept \.Vith Connotations
of Masculinity 87
One problem, many questions, 87
Rationality and gender blindness in the sciences, 88
V
VI CONTENTS
ls science founded on aggressi-ve masculinity? 110
The criticism of Western Logos, 116
Ir the subject shaped by instrumental reason? 122
Detached emotions, 127
4 For a NonessentiaJist Politics 133
Moral foundations, 13 3
The feminist we, 141
Women as citizens; or, Why the social contract theory
should be reformulated, 152
171
Notes
Bibliography 213
237
Index
FOREWORD
PROFESSOR DOCTOR H ERTA NAGL-DOCEKAL is Professor
of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. She is a pioneer in the
philosophy of the German language, both as a \VOn1an and as a femi
nist. It is a philosophical honor and a personal privilege to present
Nag]-Docekal's groundbreaking book to the Anglophone philosoph
ical world.
Nagl-Docekal's professional career was influenced at an early
stage by feminism in the United States. In 1970/71, when she
spent a sabbatical year at Millersville State University, Lancaster, PA,
Nagl-Docekal encountered the then-new aspiration among women
philosophers to become full n1embers of the academic philosophical
con1munity. At this time, no \vomen philosophy professors in Aus
tria existed. Nagl-Docekal decided to write her habilitation thesis in
philosophy. She accomplished this in 1981 and soon becan1e a phi
losophy professor at the University of Vienna. Since that ti1ne, she
has been very supportive of younger Austrian women philosophers.
In 2001, she was elected a member of the Austrian Academy of the
Sciences.
Fen1inist philosophy has long been a central-though far fron1
the only-focus of Nagl-Docekal's \vork. In addition to making her
o,vn intellectual contribution to this emerging field, Nagl-Docekal
has encouraged the work of other feminist scholars. She \Vas a
founding member of an interdisciplinary group on feminist studies
VII
FOREWORD
V 111
at the University of Vienna and helped to establish the first lecture
series on feminist topics. In 1989, she co-organized a landmark con
ference on feminist philosophy at the University of Vienna, which
brought together pron1inent English- and German-speaking femi
nist philosophers. Fluent in English, she has presented feminist de
bates occurring in English to German-speaking philosophers at
many occasions. She has co-edited several volumes of feminist phi
losophy, translated from English to German.
Nagl-Docekal's study, Feminist Philosophy, is one of a very few
book-length philosophical treatments of feminist topics in German.
However, it is unique in Anglophone as well as German philosophy
because it is deeply informed by the author's extensive knowledge of
feminist philosophical work not only in German but also in English
and French. The book thus brings together and analyzes critically
contributions from several philosophical literatures. This rich synthe
sis offers a fresh and important perspective on the central issues of
feminist philosophy, including topics in philosophical anthropology,
aesthetics, theory of science and the critique of reason, and philoso
phy of law.
Nagl-Docekal's distinctive point of view developed through her
attempts to discuss feminist philosophical issues in the Continental
European perspective, an approach that is of significant influence in
German philosophy. She contends that, against this background, the
issues of feminist philosophy cannot be avoided. Her \vork draws es
pecially heavily on Kant, despite his nlixed reputation an,ong fenlinist
philosophers. Nag!-Docekal shows that Kant's n1oral philosophy and
philosophy of law can-and must- be turned to feminist purposes,
arguing that those who read Kant properly have to becon1e feminists.
For Nagl-Docekal, feminist philosophy is not simply an academic
enterprise. In her view, the ultin1ate aim of this field of research
whose point of departure is the fact of n1anifold discrimination
against \vomen-is to provide theoretical foundations for feminist
politics. Nagl-Docekal believes that philosophy is able to make a con
tribution to practical politics but that this can occur only if philoso-