Ep. 42: Feminists on Human Nature and Moral Psychology

Product Description

On Charlotte Perkins Gillman's utopian novel Herland (1915) and psychologist Carol Gilligan's In a Different Voice (1983).

How does human nature, and specifically moral psychology, vary by sex? Charlotte Perkins Gilman claims that when philosophers have described human nature as violent and selfish, they have in mind solely male nature. Females, left to themselves in an isolated society, would be supremely peaceful, rational, and cooperative.

Carol Gilligan says accounts of "normal" moral development have not taken into account observations of women: instead of judging women my male standards and finding them wanting, she hypothesized a trajectory specific to women that acknowledged their emphasis on concrete care as opposed to abstract moral principles. Read more about the topic.

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Running Time: 1 hr., 35 min. Recorded: July 24, 2011. Participants: Mark, Seth, Dylan, Azzurra Crispino

As a bonus, your purchase includes a high-bitrate mp3 of the song that concludes the episode, “Mother's Day,” by Mark Linsenmayer (2007).