The Woman Question in Plato's Republic

by Mary Townsend

In this book, Mary Townsend proposes that, contrary to the current scholarship on Plato's Republic, Socrates does not in fact set out to prove the weakness of women. Rather, she argues that close attention to the drama of the Republic reveals that Plato dramatizes the reluctance of men to allow women into the public sphere and offers a deeply aporetic vision of women's nature and political position--a vision full of concern not only for the human community, but for the desires of women themselves.--Jacob Howland, University of Tulsa "Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy"

Genres: Philosophy

249 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2017

Reviews

[Teacherhuman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woman for Socrates is a whole lot she was not in Greek society. The idea of woman as more than hearthkeeper or harlot (hetaira) is both commendable and ironic.
Townsend writes"The irony of Socrates is a question in itself; and fortitude, no less than courage, is required to proceed. For unlike mere display or even exegesis, such irony burns and shapes the person listening to it: as Kierkegaard, thinking of Socrates, remarks, irony seeks “not so much to remain in hiding itself, as to get others to disclose themselves.”"
A "seminal" question (hee hee hee) and a brilliant treatise of an answer. What a good, good read.