FEMINIST METHODOLOGIES IN MORAL PHILOSOPHY Bren April Markey A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Stirling and the University of St Andrews 2016 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9107 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence Feminist Methodologies in Moral Philosophy Bren April Markey This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of Stirling and the University of St Andrews 24th September 2015 1 Candidate’s declarations: I, Bren April Markey, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September, 2010 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in September, 2010; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of Stirling and the University of St Andrews between 2010 and 2015. Date signature of candidate 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date signature of supervisor 3. Permission for publication: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: Access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews Date signature of candidate signature of supervisor 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Heather, a great friend through the past five years, and almost certainly the best housemate I could've hoped for. You've been supportive and entertaining through some of the hardest times during the past five years, and I would have never completed this thesis without you around. I'll really miss you when I'm gone. Similarly, thanks to James for his constant friendship ever since I arrived in St. Andrews, and also to Martin, Andre, Fee and Martha, for the good times at the Awesome House. Huge thanks to the friends I've made since moving to Edinburgh, especially Fatima, Heid, Suky and Sally. Thanks also to the Stirling Philosophers in Edinburgh - Brian, Alex, Bihotz and Josh - for sometimes reminding me that I am part of some kind of philosophical community, and for the lunches. Special thanks to Lindsay, for helping me through the past four years, and for hearing more philosophy than she knew what to do with. Thanks to Mum and Dad, who have worked at supporting me from the other side of the world. Thanks as well to my sister Louise, for being around and giving me another home when I needed it. Thanks also to Chris for, idk, whatever Chris does. This thesis would not be what it is without the help of my two main supervisors. Thanks to Alan Millar, my original supervisor, who set me down the methodological, even sometimes epistemological paths I have followed. Without his encouragement and support, I would never have continued in the program through the hardest parts of the last few years. Thanks also to Simon Hope, who guided the thesis through its later years, and who could always follow my roughest thoughts, whatever philosophical territory I found myself in. Thanks to my earlier inspirational teachers, Kyrsty and Caroline. Finally, thanks to all my old friends from Sydney, most of whom have endured my rambling emails and letters; in particular to Daniel, Mia, Rob, Sam, Jenny and Alex. I'm looking forward to seeing you all soon. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract...............................................................................................................................................6 Introduction........................................................................................................................................7 Chapter Previews....................................................................................................................................12 Chapter 1 - Methodological Conservatism in Moral Theory....................................................14 Moral Attitudes as Data or Starting Point............................................................................................17 Moral Attitudes as Evidence.................................................................................................................22 Moral Attitudes as Desiderata...............................................................................................................27 Chapter 2 - Three Approaches to Genealogical Critique..........................................................33 The Historical Approach........................................................................................................................34 The Evolutionary Approach..................................................................................................................36 The Social Approach and Epistemic Injustice.....................................................................................40 Further Differences in the Three Approaches.....................................................................................47 The Power of the Social Approach........................................................................................................55 Methodology after the Social Critique.................................................................................................58 Chapter 3 - The Scope Challenge..................................................................................................63 Expanding the Scope of the Social Approach......................................................................................63 Two Other Responses to the Scope Challenge....................................................................................72 Chapter 4 - Abstraction and Idealisation.....................................................................................77 O'Neill on Abstraction and Idealisation...............................................................................................77 Mills on Ideal Theory.............................................................................................................................81 Schwartzman on O'Neill's Abstraction and Idealisation...................................................................87 Schwartzman's Alternative Methodology, Essentialism & Intersectionality...................................97 Abstraction and the Morality of Misgendering................................................................................108 Chapter 5 - Epistemology, Ignorance and Thought Experiments..........................................114 Liberal Epistemology and Standpoint Epistemology.......................................................................116 Standpoint Epistemology and the Philosophy of Abortion.............................................................132 Epistemologies of Ignorance...............................................................................................................136 Thought Experiments...........................................................................................................................145 Chapter 6 - Personal Transformation as Moral Philosophical Method..................................156 4 Reflective Equilibrium and Radical Revisions of Belief...................................................................157 McKinnon and the Epistemology of Trans Awakening...................................................................165 Feminist Consciousness and Personal Transformation....................................................................173 Feminist Consciousness and Moral Philosophical Method.............................................................186 Reference List.................................................................................................................................203 5 ABSTRACT This thesis develops a critique of the methodology of mainstream academic moral philosophy, based on insights from feminist and more generally anti-oppressive political thought. The thesis consists of two parts. In the