Gender And Moral Luck Analysis

1) In “Gender and Moral Luck,” Claudia Card argues that men and women have very different mindsets that set the two apart from one another. Her argument is that women are caring and inclusive with a weak sense of justice. Women are encouraged to assimilate and because of this, they become extensions in their relationships (206). That is what causes men to hold all the power in society. Men hold the power in the political sense because the majority of the leaders in office are male, but they also hold power in the house holds. Women are also masochistic in the sense that they can’t seem to say “no” in most cases because they are too caring. They tend to stay in bad relationships due to their need to satisfy everyone and their failure to accept

autonomy. Women seek intimacy and protection from men and because of their inclusive needs, they are unjust.

2) Rifkin highlights two important historical movements in, The Empathetic Civilization.

One of the events was the Industrial Revolution. During this time, there was a shift in energy from the usage of water and windmills to wood. With the usage of wood came the production of mirrors. This lead to self- consciousness and individualization. People didn’t see themselves as individuals prior to this point and they also lacked self-interest. Because of this advancement, there was even greater social improvement. There were advances in science with the invention of the telescopes and microscopes, which enabled society to create a complex civilization. This fostered a deep sense of self awareness. The other historical movement was the Romantic period. What started off this period was the painting of “Marianne”. She represented compassion and feelings of openness. This lead to the discussion of human imagination and it allowed people to open up their creative minds. People started to understand the connection between other human beings and come to the revelation that we are connected. This lead to empathetic consciousness by imagining ourselves as someone else. People also stared to learn that they are inseparable parts of nature and all living things, which surpasses the French Revolution’s notion that man is the center of the universe (344). We also found that our compassionate instinct is rooted from our emotions and feeling. The two movements, Industrial Revolution and the Romantic period are linked because the one lead to the other. It was a progression of everything that happened during the revolution that lead to the Romantic era which lead to where we are now. Everything is linked and every breakthrough is leading us towards new advancements and a better

future.