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Feminist Second Thoughts About Free Agency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Paul Benson
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Abstract

This essay suggests that common themes in recent feminist ethical thought can dislodge the guiding assumptions of traditional theories of free agency and thereby foster an account of freedom which might be more fruitful for feminist discussion of moral and political agency. The essay proposes constructing that account around a condition ofnormative‐competence. It argues that this view permits insight into why women's labor of reclaiming and augmenting their agency is both difficult and possible in a sexist society.

Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , Fall 1990 , pp. 47 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 by Hypatia, Inc.

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