Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Edidin, Aron

Area of Concentration

Philosophy

Abstract

Philosophy, as a field, has historically struggled to include women at every level. This is problematic; as a field, philosophy must include women in order to be more applicable to more people. I look at two types of discrimination that I think are responsible for the low numbers of women in the field, being discrimination based solely on gender and discrimination based on ideas. Discrimination based on gender can be defined quite simply as discrimination experienced solely on the lines of gender, whereas discrimination based on ideas can either focus on markers of identity, leading to people with those identities being ostracized based solely on that identity, or on the basis of the ideas themselves. I draw parallels between discrimination based on ideas in philosophy during the Red Scare and in modern feminist philosophy. Both types of discrimination are observable issues with corresponding data backing up their presence in the field, and I engage with multiple theories surrounding these topics to attempt to find any possible ways forward for women in philosophy.

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