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Beyond Dualism: the Challenge for Feminist Theory Rebecca Aroha

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Beyond Dualism: the Challenge for Feminist Theory Rebecca Aroha Beyond Dualism: The Challenge for Feminist Theory Rebecca Aroha Randell Department of Philosophy, The Faculty of Arts The University of Adelaide Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy July 2020 Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Thesis Declaration ............................................................................................................................. 5 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Chapter One – Dualism and Feminist Philosophy ........................................................................ 12 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 12 1.1 Introducing dualism ................................................................................................................ 13 1.2 Sameness (a.k.a. equality) vs difference feminism ................................................................. 18 1.3 The critique of dualism ........................................................................................................... 23 1.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter Two – My Critique of Dualism .......................................................................................... 26 2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 26 2.1 Dualism as I understand it....................................................................................................... 27 2.2 Things to be suspicious of ....................................................................................................... 34 2.3 Thinking collectively beyond our resources ............................................................................ 35 2.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 40 Chapter Three – Hyper-separation in Western Discourse and Feminist Thought ..................... 42 3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 42 3.1 The feminist critique of abstraction ........................................................................................ 44 3.2 The problem of difference ...................................................................................................... 48 3.3 Feminism, sameness and difference ....................................................................................... 59 3.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter Four – Creating Foregrounds and Backgrounds out of Men and Women ................... 64 4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 64 4.1 Economies of discourse .......................................................................................................... 65 4.2 Justice and care and the centring of men’s moral orientation ............................................... 68 4.3 Sexual and social contracts and the division of public and private ........................................ 70 4.4 Beyond backgrounding ........................................................................................................... 73 4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 77 Chapter Five – Relational Definition and Women ......................................................................... 78 5.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 78 5.1 Relational definition in greater depth ..................................................................................... 80 2 5.2 The feminist critique of subjectivity ....................................................................................... 83 5.3 Reimagined self/other ............................................................................................................ 88 5.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 89 Chapter Six – A Way Forward ......................................................................................................... 91 6.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 91 6.1 The adoption of difference approach ..................................................................................... 92 6.2 A reimagined and non-dualistic feminist discourse .............................................................. 100 6.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 106 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 108 Reference List ................................................................................................................................ 112 3 Abstract Since the 1970s, most feminist philosophical work, in some form or another, has sought to expose, define and/or combat the “maleness” of philosophy. This thesis is written from the position that the “maleness” of philosophy is not inevitable, but a feature of our dualised discourse. From this perspective, dualism and male bias are deeply implicated in current structures of thought. And yet, from this perspective, philosophy and theory construction should not be rejected as antagonistic to feminist aims, but reinvented through unthinking dualism. This thesis explores the state of dualism within Western discourse in order to describe how feminists must approach the task of reinventing discourse. One aim of this thesis, then, is to examine to what extent feminist theory shares in the wider criticism of dualistic thinking: the critique of thinking in terms of domination. Thus this thesis sets up the problem of how to unthink dualism as being more complicated than many have thought, and as entailing the reinvention of both philosophy and feminist theory. Chapter One begins by distinguishing the position toward dualism taken in this thesis from other prominent feminist approaches based on politics of equality and difference. From there Chapter Two provides an initial description of my account of dualism, based predominantly on Plumwood’s (1993) critique of dualism, as well as of the problem of how to unthink dualism. Chapters Three, Four and Five then describe the problem of how to unthink dualism in greater depth through an examination of Plumwood’s three principles of dualism: hyper-separation, denied dependency and relational definition. These middle chapters explore how resistant this problem is to a solution by addressing feminist theories’ own reliance on dualistic thinking. Central to this is the problem of difference which has been a major concern of contemporary feminist theory. Finally, Chapter Six draws on this discussion to describe the shape of a satisfactory solution to the problem of how to unthink dualism, and of the road ahead for feminist theory. 4 Thesis Declaration I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. In addition, I certify that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University of Adelaide and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint award of this degree. I give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University's digital research repository, the Library Search and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Signature: Date: 20/07/2020 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Garrett Cullity and Dr Antony Eagle for their help and guidance throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Adelaide. Thank you to all of my fellow postgraduate students, and friends, from the philosophy department who were on the front lines of my tantrums and
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