Course

Philosophy and Feminist Thought

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Philosophy
Course Code
PHIL 2360
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
This course will examine philosophical aspects of issues raised by recent feminist thought in the areas of methodology, theories of knowledge, reality, science, and value. Some of the issues to be explored include the following: Are the differences that exist between women and men “natural” or are they the result of different social environments? Are the different ways of gaining knowledge influenced by gender? Does language reflect a male viewpoint which serves to reinforce inequalities in power and social relationships? Assuming gender inequalities exist, what accounts for them? What prospects are there for elimination of such inequalities? How important is their elimination? Does science, with its emphasis on control, reflect a male perspective? Are there “female”, as opposed to “male” approaches to scientific inquiry? What about approaches to morality and religion? This course will attempt to understand and assess the fundamental assumptions involved in the various stances taken in response to such questions.
Course Content

Instruction in this course will cover the following seven areas:

 

  1. Method and its Assumptions
    • including different portrayals of method, as well as possible tensions between philosophical method and feminist method.  The possibility that traditional philosophical method incorporates a male viewpoint will be considered.
  2. Reality and its Composition
    • including questions pertaining to human nature and, specifically, whether any differences that exist between women and men are “natural” or the result of different social environments.  Sex and gender will be examined, as well as the issue to what extent gender should be understood as a social construction.
  3. Knowledge and its Acquisition
    • including topics relating to the nature of knowledge and the different ways of knowing.  The possibility that some ways of knowing are influenced by gender will be considered.
  4. Science and its Purposes
    • including questions concerning the nature of science and scientific method.  The issue whether the scientific paradigm of control and power reflects a male perspective will be considered, as well as the possibility that “female approaches” and “male approaches” to scientific inquiry are different.
  5. Language and its Influence
    • including issues involving the extent to which language shapes our perceptions and understanding of the world.  The suggestion that language reflects a male viewpoint, as well as reinforcing inequalities in power and social relationships, will be examined.
  6. Society and its Nature
    • including an examination of the view that one of the most important issues in current social theory is gender equality in work, family, and the political process.
  7. Morality and its Nature
    • including an examination of the proposal that traditional moral theory incorporates a male perspective.  The possibility that moral development occurs differently in women and men will be considered.  The ramifications of this possibility for moral theory will also be explored.

All seven of these general areas will be covered, but some of them may be emphasized more heavily than the others.

 

Learning Activities

The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:

A combination of lecture and discussion (possibly including student presentations).  Some class sessions may involve formal lectures for the entire time (allowing time for questions), in which case a later class session will allow discussion of the lecture and reading material.  Other class sessions may involve a combination of informal lecture and structured discussion.

Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be based upon course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester.

Any possible combination of the following which equals 100%:

  Percent Range         Example  
Tests, Quizzes, Short Written Assignments   30% – 60% Five 10% Tests  50%
Written Class Presentations, Argument  Analyses, Exams   20%– 50% Two 20% analyses     40%
Instructor’s General Evaluation 
(may include attendance class participation,
group work, homework, etc.)
   0% – 20% Attendance/
Participation
 10%
Total     100%

(No one evaluation component within each category may exceed 40%)

Learning Outcomes

Successful students will be able to:

  1. Reason and reflect in a critical way about some of the basic philosophical issues and controversies arising out of feminist thought.
  2. Reason and reflect philosophically upon philosophical and feminist viewpoints about topics covered.
  3. Demonstrate the ability to explain the reasoning involved in viewpoints opposed to one another.
  4. Demonstrate an ability to use philosophical reasoning to make up their own minds about the philosophical issues and controversies pertaining to feminist thought.
  5. Demonstrate an understanding of specific philosophical theories, concepts, issues and controversies covered in the course.
  6. Demonstrate the ability to apply philosophical and feminist theory to the resolution of the philosophical issues and controversies concerning feminist thought.

Textbook Materials

Texts will be updated periodically. A typical example is:

  • Garry, Ann & Marilyn Pearsall, (Eds.). (1996). Women, Knowledge and Reality: Explorations in Feminist Philosophy, (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

Requisites

Prerequisites

No prerequisite courses.

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for PHIL 2360
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU PHIL 2XXX (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG PHIL 1XXX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU PHIL 1XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU PHIL 2XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU PHIL 2XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO PHIL_O 1st (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV PHIL_V 2nd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC WMST 311 (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV PHIL 2XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC PHIL 239 (1.5)

Course Offerings

Summer 2024