PHIL/WMST 275.001 – Moral and Philosophical Issues of Gender in Society

This course is an introduction to some of the core concepts of feminist thinking, as well as to the assumptions and aims of several feminist political theories. We will begin by asking why feminist thinking and theorizing is not just historically important, but essential to an adequately critical and reflective stance towards our present culture.

The main concepts we will focus on include oppression, sexism, gender, essentialism, gynocentrism and intersectionality. The main political theories we will explore will include liberal feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism, and postmodern feminism. We will, throughout the course, apply these theoretical tools to our everyday lives, in order to explore what feminist thought offers to our understanding of our political and social realities, as well as what it can do to engage with, and alter those realities.