The Gendered Character of Knowledge

• Feminine characterizations of knowledge aim at explanation and understanding instead of an adversarial determination of “facts” removed from their contexts

Lorraine Code

• Feminism questions philosophical assumptions about mind and thinking by showing how emotions and feelings are sources of truth and guides for reasoningMorwenna

Griffiths

“Feminism, Feelings, and Philosophy”

• Emotions (e.g., fear, love, pride) are not simply intellectual judgments that result in action, and feelings (e.g., sexuality, hunger) are not simply bodily sensations

• This insight challenges the philosophic inclination to portray emotions and feelings in terms of a dualism of mind and body

• Emotions and feelings cannot easily be linked to mind or body exclusively, and neither mind nor body dominates

The Feminist Alternative

• Feelings become meaningful as human emotions over time and in social (e.g., linguistic) contexts when they are understood and acted upon

• This means that feelings affect and are affected by our understanding and our communal interactions—and thus guide our philosophical enquiries