Topics in Feminist Philosophy: Feminist Epistemology
Philosophy 486/Women's Studies 486
University of Michigan
Fall 1997
Prof. Sally Haslanger
Office: 2203 Angell Hall
Office hours: W 10:30-12 and by appointment (in 2203 AH).
Phone: 764-6882, 764-6285 (for messages).
Email: shaslang@umich.edu
Course URL: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~shaslang/486.html
DESCRIPTION:
The topic for this term is feminist epistemology and philosophy of science. Questions we will consider include: Is rationality gendered? Are scientific conceptions of objectivity "masculine"? What could it mean to make such claims, and how could they be justified? What should a feminist conception of knowledge look like? In addressing these questions we'll explore the numerous ways that gender, gender roles, and gender identity influence the construction of knowledge and the representation of objectivity. We will investigate competing views about knowledge construction --specifically, empiricism, standpoint theory, and postmodernism-- by considering, among other things, how they have informed empirical research in the social sciences, biology, and medicine. Classes will be conducted as interactive lecture/discussions.
CLASS MEETS: T-Th 1-2:30, 2271 Angell Hall
REQUIREMENTS:
Three (of 4) short homework assignments 15%
Two 6-8 page papers 50% (25% each)
Final exam 30%
Class participation, improvement, etc. 5%
Graduate students may submit a term paper in lieu of the final if a proposal is approved by the instructor.
PREREQUISITES: Students should have a background (at least 2 courses) in either philosophy or women's studies.
TEXTS:
Sandra Harding, The Science Question in Feminism (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1986). (SQF)
Helen Longino, Science as Social Knowledge (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1990. (SSK)
Evelyn Fox Keller and Helen Longino, eds., Feminism and Science, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). (F&S)
Texts are available at Shaman Drum. A coursepack of essays will also be available at Michigan Document Service. (MDS is located on S. University above Ulrich's Electronics. Phone: 662-4530.) Assignments marked with a '*' will be in the coursepack. Recommended readings will be available through the course web page and on electronic reserves at the Undergraduate Library (if they are not available in the texts. The reserve room URL is:
http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Reserves
COURSE SCHEDULE
I. INTRODUCTION TO FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY AND FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
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Sept. 9 |
Sandra Harding, The Science Question in Feminism, Ch. 1-3. |
II. FEMINIST EMPIRICISM/FEMINIST NATURALISM: Feminist Science v. Bad Science
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Sept. 11 |
Helen Longino, Science as Social Knowledge (SSK), Ch. 1. |
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* Marilyn Waring, selections from If Women Counted (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1990) pp. 74-91, 103-114, 176-178, 224-249. |
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Dorothy Smith, "Women's Perspective as a Radical Critique of Sociology" in F&S, pp. 17-26.
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Sept. 16 |
* Lynn H. Nelson, Who Knows (Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, 1990), pp. 20-29. |
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* Elizabeth Anderson, "Feminist Epistemology: An Interpretation and a Defense" Hypatia 10: 3 (Summer 1995) pp. 50-84.
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Sept. 18 |
* Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, "Empathy, Polyandry, and the Myth of the Coy Female" in Ruth Bleier, ed., Feminist Approaches to Science (New York: Pergamon, 1986), pp. 119-146. |
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Elisabeth Lloyd, "Pre-Theoretical Assumptions in Evolutionary Explanations of Female Sexuality," in F&S.
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Sept. 23 |
* Louise Antony, "Quine as Feminist: The Radical Import of Naturalized Epistemology," in A Mind of One's Own, ed., L. Antony and C. Witt (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993), pp. 185-226. |
III. USES AND ABUSES OF ANALOGY AND METAPHOR
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Sept. 25 |
Genevieve Lloyd, "Reason, Science, and the Domination of Matter" (F&S) |
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* Phyllis Rooney, "Gendered Reason: Sex Metaphor and Conceptions of Reason" Hypatia 6:2 (Summer 1991) pp. 77-103. FIRST HOMEWORK DUE
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Sept. 30 |
* Evelyn Fox Keller, "The Force of the Pacemaker Concept in Theories of Aggregation in Cellular Slime Mold" in Reflections on Gender and Science (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1985) pp. 150-157. |
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Evelyn Fox Keller, "Language and Ideology in Evolutionary Theory: Reading Cultural Norms into Natural Law," in F&S. |
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Nancy L. Stepan, "Race and Gender: The Role of Analogy in Science," in F&S. |
IV. IS OBJECTIVITY MASCULINE?
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Oct. 2 |
* Evelyn Fox Keller "Gender and Science," and "Dynamic Objectivity" in Reflections on Gender and Science (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1985) pp. 75-94, 115-126. Helen Longino SSK, pp. 204-209.
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Oct. 7 |
* Sally Haslanger, "On Being Objective and Being Objectified" in A Mind of One's Own, ed., L. Antony and C. Witt (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993), pp. 85-126. recommended: |
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J. Dupré, "Conversations with Apes: Reflections on the Scientific Study of Language, " in J. Hyman, ed., Investigating Psychology: Sciences of the Mind After Wittgenstein (NY: Routledge, 1991), pp. 95-116. |
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V. Hearne, "A Walk With Washoe," in Adam's Task: Calling Animals by Name (NY: Vintage Books, 1982), pp. 18-41. FIRST PAPER TOPICS DISTRIBUTED. |
V. FEMINIST STANDPOINT THEORY
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Oct. 9 |
Sandra Harding, SQF, Ch. 6. |
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* Nancy Hartsock, "The Feminist Standpoint: Developing the Ground for a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism" in Sandra Harding, ed., Feminism and Methodology (Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1987), pp. 157-180. SECOND HOMEWORK DUE.
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Oct. 14
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* Catharine MacKinnon, "Consciousness Raising," Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1989), Ch. 5. * Terri Elliott, "Making Strange What Had Appeared Familiar" The Monist 77:4 (1994), pp. 424-433. |
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recommended: |
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Maria Lugones and Elizabeth Spelman, "Have We Got A Theory For You! Feminist Theory and the Demand for 'The Woman's Voice'," in Marilyn Pearsall, ed., Women and Values (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1986), pp. 19-31.
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Oct. 16 |
* Catharine MacKinnon, "Method and Politics," Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1989), Ch. 6. * Sally Haslanger "Ontology and Social Construction" Philosophical Topics 23:2 (Fall 1995), pp. 95-126. |
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Oct. 21 |
* Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought, (New York: Routledge, 1991), Ch. 10, 6. FIRST PAPER DUE.
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Oct. 23 |
* Bar-Ami Bar On, "Marginality and Epistemic Privilege," in Linda Alcoff and Elizabeth Potter, eds., Feminist Epistemologies (New York: Routledge, 1993) pp. 83-100. |
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* Charles Mills, "Alternative Epistemologies," Social Theory and Practice 14 (1988), pp. 237-263.
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Oct. 28 |
* Donna Haraway, "The Bio-politics of a Multicultural Field," in Primate Visions (New York: Routledge, 1989), pp. 244-275. |
VI. FEMINIST POSTMODERNISM
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Oct. 30 |
Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges" in F&S. |
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THIRD HOMEWORK DUE. |
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recommended: Sandra Harding SQF, Ch. 7.
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Nov. 4 |
* Donna Haraway, "Women's Place is In the Jungle," and "Sarah Blaffer Hrdy: Investment Strategies for the Evolving Portfolio of Primate Females" in Primate Visions, pp. 279-303, 349-367.
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Nov. 6 |
* Rachel T. Hare-Mustin and Jeanne Maracek, "Gender and the Meaning of Difference: Postmodernism and Psychology," in Anne Herrmann and Abigail Stewart, eds., Theorizing Feminism (Boulder, CO: Westview 1994), pp. 49-76.
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Nov. 11 |
* Anne Seller, "Should the Feminist Philosopher Stay at Home?" in Kathleen Lennon and Margaret Whitford, eds., Knowing the Difference (New York: Routledge, 1994), pp. 230-248. |
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* Oshadi Mangena, "Against Fragmentation," in Kathleen Lennon and Margaret Whitford, eds., Knowing the Difference (New York: Routledge, 1994), pp. 275-282. |
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recommended: * Susan Bordo, "Feminism, Postmodernism, and Gender Skepticism," in Anne Herrmann and Abigail Stewart, eds., Theorizing Feminism (Boulder, CO: Westview 1994), pp. 458-481. |
VII. FEMINIST EMPIRICISM (AGAIN): Rethinking Scientific Ideals
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Nov. 13 |
* Elisabeth Lloyd, "Feminism as Method: What Scientists Get That Philosophers Don't" Philosophical Topics 23:2 (Fall 1995), pp. 189-220. SECOND PAPER TOPICS DISTRIBUTED.
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Nov. 18 |
Helen Longino, SSK, Ch. 4-5. FOURTH HOMEWORK DUE.
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Nov. 20 |
Helen Longino, SSK, Ch. 8-10.
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Nov. 25 |
* Louise Antony, "Sisters, Please, I'd Rather Do It Myself," Philosophical Topics 23:2 (Fall 1995), pp. 59-94.
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Nov. 27 |
Thanksgiving break |
VIII. CRITIQUES OF FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY
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Dec. 2
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* P. Gross and N. Levitt, Higher Supersistition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1994), 132-48 * Elisabeth Lloyd, "Science and Anti-Science: Objectivity and Its Real Enemies," in L.Nelson and J. Nelson, ed., Feminism, Science and the Philosophy of Science (Kluwer, 1996), pp. 217-259.
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Dec. 4 |
* Susan Haack, "Knowledge and Propaganda: Reflections of an Old Feminist," Partisan Review 60 (1993): 556-565. |
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* Harriet Baber, "The Market For Feminist Epistemology," The Monist 77:4 (1994): 397-423. |
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* Elizabeth Anderson, "Knowledge, Human Interests, and Objectivity in Feminist Epistemology,"Philosophical Topics 23:2 (Fall 1995), pp. 27-58. |
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SECOND PAPER DUE.
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Dec. 9 |
Final class |
Thursday, December 18, 4-6pm: FINAL EXAM