WOMANHOOD IN PRUDENCE ALLEN GENDER PHILOSOPHY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE METAPHYSICS

Abstract

There is a growing interest in gender philosophy. It could be said to be a consequence of gender equality campaign that has become a contemporary socio-political topical issue. Interestingly, philosophers since the early years till this contemporary era have contended with the issues of gender; all in the attempt to justify or repudiate the polarity tussle between the male and the female. Hence, there are philosophical foundations for the dominant notion that man is superior to woman; and this is the background to the denigration of womanhood in many cultures and societies. There are historical perspectives and attempts at ethical analysis of the man and woman dichotomy. However, Prudence Allen, a contemporary philosopher in her own perspective has attempted to reconcile the age long disparity not just from a historical perspective but rather, on a metaphysical standpoint. According to her, the ontological understanding of woman in relation to man within the framework of Integral Gender Complementarity is the answer to the gender questions which have engaged philosophers from ages. To what extent does this metaphysical solution resolve the issues? Does it mean that the Aristotelian idea and the medieval thoughts on women are standing on a faulty foundation? If the argument is metaphysically resolved as Allen taught, what is its correlation to socio political gender issues? For Allen, a woman is a whole being, ontologically equal to the man.