Feminist Philosophy (PHIL2190)
Information valid for Semester 2, 2025
Course level
Undergraduate
Faculty
Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
School
Historical & Philosophical Inq
Units
2
Duration
One Semester
Attendance mode
In Person
Class hours
Lecture 2 Hours/ Week
Tutorial 1 Hour/ Week
Incompatible
PHIL7219
Course enquiries
Mx Josh Szymanski (Semester 2, St Lucia, In person)
Study Abroad
This course is pre-approved for Study Abroad and Exchange students.
Current course offerings
Course offerings | Location | Mode | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2025 (28/07/2025 - 22/11/2025) | St Lucia | In Person | Course Profile |
Please Note: Course profiles marked as not available may still be in development.
Course description
This course sets out to critically analyse the relations between feminism and the tradition of Western philosophy and situate feminist thought from the 'second wave' onward as both a form and critique of philosophical inquiry. This involves critical engagement with concepts such as reason, desire, sexuality, identity, Self and Other, language and expression, normative 'masculinity' and 'femininity', and the category of 'woman' itself. This course interrogates the situation of patriarchal oppression from a feminist-philosophical standpoint but also critically examines Western feminist thought itself from Black, South-East Asian, Australian and American First Nations', and Queer perspectives to develop a broadly intersectional approach to feminist philosophy. In taking up this trajectory, this course explores questions like: How have women been historically excluded from philosophy? How has early feminist thought developed in a Western context - and how has this tradition been critiqued by Black and Postcolonial feminists? What does it mean to say that woman is 'Other' in patriarchal culture? How are femininity and maternity repressed and devalued in patriarchal culture? How do we 'become' gendered? And what kind of critical relationship should an intersectional feminism adopt in relation to gender categories?
Archived offerings
Course offerings | Location | Mode | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2024 (22/07/2024 - 18/11/2024) | St Lucia | In Person | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2023 (24/07/2023 - 18/11/2023) | St Lucia | In Person | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2022 (25/07/2022 - 19/11/2022) | St Lucia | Internal | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2022 (25/07/2022 - 19/11/2022) | External | External | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2021 (26/07/2021 - 20/11/2021) | St Lucia | Internal | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2019 (22/07/2019 - 16/11/2019) | St Lucia | Internal | Course Profile |
Semester 2, 2017 (24/07/2017 - 18/11/2017) | St Lucia | Internal | Course Profile |