Martha Nussbaum interview

October 18, 2009 in Ethics, Philosophy | 2 comments

I ran into this video when I was doing a bit of research into the question of women in philosophy. There are many brilliant women doing philosophy in all kinds of fields; the ratio of men to women is still higher than most of the humanities, I suspect.

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  1. Madeleine’s avatar

    Madeleine on October 22, 2009 at 5:48 am

    I cannot watch your video as my computer lacks sound at the moment but as a woman interested in philosophy I will state that I think the reason so few women are interested is that so few women are wired the way philosophy requires. Women tend not to be so cerebral, so left brain, so logical as men naturally are, philosophy requires this, as such more men do philosophy.

    Frankly most of the women I read who attempt philosophy let the team down. My favourite philosophers are almost all men and that is not because I have not read female philosophers.

    I’d like to hope that one day I can become one of the woman working in philosophy who can be considered good but time will tell and I need the letters after my name first!

  2. Josh’s avatar

    Josh on October 22, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    Aye, play the game and jump through the hoops and you can be a fine philosopher. I used to be pretty cautious towards women philosophers (not intentionally, but subconsciously) but as of late I’ve been floored by the offerings of philosophers of the fairer sex. Just a few that I consider first-rate philosophers:

    Elizabeth Harman
    Christine Korsgaard
    Berit Brogaard
    Karen Bennett

    Those are some names that most professional philosophers respect, and I suspect their stories are relevant for women interested in getting on in philosophy.