M.A. / This dissertation explores the possibility of an alternative notion of reason, one that draws on certain values articulated in feminist theory as well as on the opportunities opened up by the historically created relationship between women and reason. Employing certain writings, the initial aim of the argument is to render problematic the conventionally accepted conception of reason by demonstrating the existence of a powerful intellectual current that associates women with, among other things, the bodily and emotional, thereby placing them outside of reason. Because of the immense importance attached to the tenets of reason, this state of affairs profoundly affects the position of women and is, of course, something they have extensively commented on. Thus, following on the problematization of reason along gender lines, women are afforded the opportunity to set out their views on reason and the relationship between it and women. From this it emerges, broadly speaking, that some women want to be integrated into the prevailing standard of reason, while others hold that women have access to some distinct reasoning capability that it sometimes even regarded as being superior to the masculine standard. The points of view outlined above are then, in the penultimate chapter, brought into critical dialogue with postmodernism. This serves two main purposes: it illustrates the flaws in certain feminist views on reason and, very importantly, makes the point that reason cannot be meaningfully separated from questions concerning power, subjectivity and language. In conclusion, and drawing on a range of insights developed through the course of the dissertation, it is said that the conventional single standard of rationality is in large measure fictitious and that it should be abandoned in favour of a more multicentred way of looking at the world. Women are encouraged not to attempt to merely move from their positions at the margins of reason to the centre, but to explore the possibilities offered by the margins, possibilities that might enable them to lead the way in terms of being agents in creating more acceptable standards of knowledge and interaction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2057 |
| Date | 27 February 2012 |
| Creators | Erasmus, Ermin |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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