Product Description

Hegel and Feminist Philosophy traces the legacy of Hegel in the work of thinkers such as de Beauvoir, Irigaray and Butler, and also in contemporary debates in feminist ethics and political philosophy. As Hutchings demonstrates, this is an ambivalent legacy. Hegel figures both as an antagonistic ′other′ and as a significant resource for feminist thinking from de Beauvoir onwards. Hegel′s philosophy is antagonistic to feminism in so far as it denigrates the female or feminist subject, excluding women from both reason and history. His work provides a resource for feminist philosophy because his account of reason and history is fundamentally non–binary and can be drawn on in feminist philosophy′s attempts to escape the binary thinking of the philosophical tradition. Hutchings claims that feminist philosophy is characterized by patterns of thought which oscillate between accepting and overturning conceptual dualisms central to the philosophical tradition. She suggests that Hegelian elements within feminist thought provide the basis for a rethinking of feminist philosophy which escapes this either/or choice and opens up new possibilities for feminism. This is demonstrated by showing how Hegelian modes of thinking help to resolve entrenched debates within feminist philosophy over sexual difference, ethical judgement and equality of right.


Hegel and Feminist Philosophy will be of great interest to students and scholars of philosophy, women′s studies and political theory.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #898339 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

From the Back Cover
Hegel and Feminist Philosophy traces the legacy of Hegel in the work of thinkers such as de Beauvoir, Irigaray and Butler, and also in contemporary debates in feminist ethics and political philosophy. As Hutchings demonstrates, this is an ambivalent legacy. Hegel figures both as an antagonistic ‘other’ and as a significant resource for feminist thinking from de Beauvoir onwards. Hegel′s philosophy is antagonistic to feminism in so far as it denigrates the female or feminist subject, excluding women from both reason and history. His work provides a resource for feminist philosophy because his account of reason and history is fundamentally non–binary and can be drawn on in feminist philosophy’s attempts to escape the binary thinking of the philosophical tradition. Hutchings claims that feminist philosophy is characterized by patterns of thought which oscillate between accepting and overturning conceptual dualisms central to the philosophical tradition. She suggests that Hegelian elements within feminist thought provide the basis for a rethinking of feminist philosophy which escapes this either/or choice and opens up new possibilities for feminism. This is demonstrated by showing how Hegelian modes of thinking help to resolve entrenched debates within feminist philosophy over sexual difference, ethical judgement and equality of right.

Hegel and Feminist Philosophy will be of great interest to students and scholars of philosophy, women′s studies and political theory.

About the Author
Kimberly Hutchings is a senior lecturer in political theory at the University of Edinburgh. Her publications include Kant Critique and Politics (Routledge, 1996), International Political Theory (Sage, 1999) and (co–edited with Roland Dannreuther) Cosmopolitan Citizenship (Macmillan, 1999). She is an active member of the Society for Women in Philosophy and the Reviews Editor of the journal Contemporary Political Theory.

Customer Reviews

Feminist philosophy that doesn't make you despair
I've had this book on my shelf for ages, and was somehow dreading reading it, but it proved to be a revelation. It is one of the most clearly written, engaging and accessible books on Hegel I have ever read, and the only one that has provided genuine insights without a great deal of turgid and unilluminating commentary on the texts themselves. Even better, it begins with a typology of feminisms that is not only critical and original, but also actually useful.Hegelian heaven.