Abstract

Feminists surely cannot be blamed for having one or two differences with a philosopher who compared women to plants in their intellectual powers, denied that they were capable of the higher activities of art, science, and philosophy, and warned that when “women hold the helm of government, the state is at once in jeopardy, because women regulate their actions not by the demands of universality but by arbitrary inclinations and opinions.” Undoubtedly, in some of his texts Hegel made patently ridiculous and offensive statements about women. Nevertheless, it seems to me that in their zeal to attack the prejudice that Hegel on occasion displayed, some feminists have overlooked much of the subtlety of his philosophy. Ignoring the larger context of his arguments, they have instead myopically focussed on particular phrases and moments in his thinking which seem to be easy targets.