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The Intellectual Capacity of David Stove

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2001

Jenny Teichman
Jenny Teichman
Affiliation:
New Hall, Cambridge
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Abstract

David Stove's essay “The intellectual capacity of women” was first published in 1990, in the Proceedings of a Sydney philosophical society. It has been re-published twice since his death. It seems though that during his lifetime Stove himself refused to agree to its being re-printed. This raises two questions: Did Stove believe his essay on women contains mistakes? And: does it contain mistakes?

The main flaws in the essay stem from a rash adoption of simplistic ideas about probability coupled with a question-begging definition of capacity. The work also contains contradictions and exaggerations and some unwise forays into social history. Stove was an intelligent man so it seems likely that he would have recognised those flaws.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy , Volume 76 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 149 - 157
Copyright
© The Royal Institute of Philosophy 2001

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