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The Philosophy Department Colloquium Series presents:
Two Platos on Women in Society
Guest Speaker: Dr. Thomas A. Robinson (Philosophy Dept., U of Toronto)
Day/Date: Thursday, October 27, 2016
Time: 12:15 p.m.
Location: W-401
When talking about the role and status of women in society, Plato seems to operate at two levels, the revolutionary and the traditional. Good examples of this can be found in the Republic, Timaeus, Statesman, and Laws. In the Republic the revolutionary Plato thinks that a small number of women of suitable genetic background and appropriate further education are as able as an equally small number of men of similar credentials to exercise ruling power in his paradigmatically just society. In the same dialogue, however, the traditional Plato has some very negative things to say about the innate failings of 'women', and in a later dialogue, the Timaeus, the same traditional Plato says that these innate failings are such that the punishment for a man who demonstrates bad character in a first life will be reincarnation as a woman in the next. In the Statesman the traditional Plato also appears to be dominant in the apparent decision to exclude women from the possibility of ruling power in this latest version of a paradigmatically good society, while in the Laws the revolutionary Plato seems to be back on the scene with the call for equal education for all citizens, female as well as male. The traditional Plato,
however, not to be outdone, makes sure, in the same dialogue, that no female will reach supreme power, whatever her education.
What is going on here? The paper offers a few suggestions.
Contact:
Bev Garnett | bev.garnett@uleth.ca | (403) 380-1894
