PHI 6500 — Philosophy of Sex and Gender
This course will provide an overview of feminist perspectives of sex, gender, and sexuality. We will start with feminist philosophical perspectives for methodological reasons not for political or cultural reasons. In the 1970s and 1980s, feminist critiques of scientific objectivity arose in philosophy as a method of examining the frameworks of science- particularly the biological sciences - and the inherentsubjectivity of both scientific research and research methods. This historical critique allowed philosophers to ask important questions about sex and sexuality, gender identity, gender normativity, biological essentialism, and more. Throughout the course, we will focus on key issues within feminist philosophy as well as on important areas of disagreement between feminist philosophy and its critics.