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Nature of equality
History and theory of feminism
History and theory of feminism
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Did you know that Mary Wollstonecraft wanted equality for men and women isn’t that crazy? In the late 17th and 18th century many well-educated people know as philosophes or philosophers met in French salons and English drawing rooms to have discussions. During the age of reason philosophers started discussing equality in these four areas; economics religion political and social. One area the philosopher's thought there should be more equality in was economics.many philosophers such as John Locke believed that man could govern themselves According to Document A “without government interference, the obvious and simple system of natural liberty establishes itself of its own accord. Every man….is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way… The ruler is completely discharged from a duty for which no human wisdom or knowledge could ever be sufficient” One area the philosopher's thought there should be more equality in was religion.According to Document B “take a view of the exchange trading center in London…where the representatives of all nations meet for the benefit of mankind”.i choose this quote because it explains how you can allow mentality get in the way of doing what is best for the solution.if one religion only were allowed in England the government would very possibly become arbitrary if there were but two the …show more content…
people would cut one another's throats but as there are such multitude there are live happy and in peace” I chose this quote because it explains how if there are only one or two religions how to be unbalanced and off-kilter. One area the Philosopher's thought there should be more equality in was political according to document A "we must consider what the state of all men are naturally in and that is a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit within the bounds of the law of nature.
so as long as our person is rational And under the law of nature they should not be scrutinized for their decisions. according to document a “There is nothing more evident than that creature of the same species and rank should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or
subjection.” one area the Philosopher's thought there should be more equality in was social “To render mankind more Virtuous and the happier, of course, both sexes must act from the same principle woman must be allowed to find their virtue on knowledge which is scarcely possible unless they are an educated by the same Pursuits as men for they are now made so inferior by ignorance and low desires as not to deserve to be ranked with them”
Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Sor Juana de la Cruz are writers of the Enlightenment period, but they each approach women’s rights in a different way. While De la Druz was a Catholic nun from Mexico ad preferred to study and be alone, Wollstonecraft asserted women’s rights for all through publications directed at the masses. During the Enlightenment, people began to question old authoritative models like the Church. Our texts states, “thinkers believed inreason as a dependable guide. Both sides insisted that one should not take any assertion of truth on faith, blindly following the authority of others; instead, one should think skeptically about causes and effects, subjecting all truth-claims to logic andrational inquiry” (Puchner 92). Indeed,
Today, women and men have equal rights, however, not long ago men believed women were lower than them. During the late eighteenth century, men expected women to stay at home and raise children. Women were given very few opportunities to expand their education past high school because colleges and universities would not accept females. This was a loss for women everywhere because it took away positions of power for them. It was even frowned upon if a woman showed interest in medicine or law because that was a man’s place, not a woman’s, just like it was a man’s duty to vote and not a woman’s.
John Locke’s ideas on creating a government by the people and Voltaire’s ideas on practicing any religion shows how many enlightenment philosophers wanted people to live peacefully with others and the society. The ideas of many philosophers helped shape the capitalist, democratic world in which we live today. Today's government was created with a legislative and executive branch, like what Locke suggested and women have more rights, such as getting education and jobs that are same as those of men. Enlightenment philosophers main ideas on increasing human rights and equality helped create a better society during the Enlightenment period and
John Locke strongly believed in more rights for the people and was against oppression. In his book, Second Treatise on Civil Government, Locke stated, “(W)e must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose [manage] of their possessions. . .” (Document A). Locke means every man is naturally equal, no one was created better and he has certain guaranteed rights. This helps society because it would deny a monarch to strip a person of their guaranteed rights and it would make the monarch less powerful and his/her power would be given to the people.
Indisputably, Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the most influential figures of Enlightenment, also considered the ‘first feminist’. It is certain that her works and writing has influenced the lives of many women and altered the outlook of some societies on women, evolving rights of women a great deal from what they used to be in her time. It is clear that Wollstonecraft’s arguments and writing will remain applicable and relevant to societies for many years to come, as although there has been progression, there has not been a complete resolution. Once women receive so easily the freedom, rights and opportunities that men inherently possess, may we be able to say that Wollstonecraft has succeeded in vindicating the rights of women entirely.
This means everyone has the right to life but the right to life is not absolute right because of my example earlier in the introduction. Liberty is what you want to do when you want to do it on your own property as long as it does not harm any else’s life. Property is what you own and the way you that you own something is by “mixing labor” with it. Money was made some man can buy things, it also does not spoil which is good according to Locke. Money also has value as long as man agrees that it has value. I agree that income inequality is justifiable for reasons John Locke has said, and that without income inequality the economy would not be the way that it is now, and no one would be able to make more money than an other
In his treatise, Locke addresses the equality of all men. In order to correctly understand political philosophy, one must first understand the State of Nature man is born into, which is a state of perfect freedom. In the State of Nature, man has perfect freedom and is equal to all other men. Man’s freedom allows him to act as he pleases and to use or dispose of his possessions as he sees fit (Locke II.4). The freedom man enjoys is coupled with a state of equality, in which it is understood that all men entitled to the advantages of nature and the use of its resources. In the state of nature, no man has more “power or jurisdiction” (Locke II.4) than any other man. Although natural man is in a state of liberty, Locke takes great care to stress that man is not in a “state of license” (Locke II.6), for man is only free to act within the bounds of the law of nature (Locke II.4). The law of nature, which is reason, claims that because all men are “equal and independent,” and therefore, no man ought to cause harm to another man’s “life, health, liberty, or posses...
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (“Declaration”). These words, spoken by a wise and prominent man by the name of Thomas Jefferson, were greatly influenced by the Enlightenment’s most profound philosopher, John Locke. Since the beginning of Enlightenment to the 21st century, Locke’s ideas have been behind countless innovators, philosophers, and politicians; including our very own Founding Fathers. From being an enlightened philosopher to creating bold, new ideas, John Locke is the single most influential person in history because he helped establish the basis of modern philosophical empiricism, he was a staunch defender of the power of the people, and he contributed in the social shift into Enlightenment. In due to his superlative philosophies, John Locke successfully illuminated the corrupted 16th century and made way to a world revolved around the radical ideas of Enlightenment.
The American Renaissance introduced an individualistic approach to viewing society and human nature that focused on equality and the inherent goodness of all mankind. The period ushered in the beginning of widespread movements toward race and gender equality. Out of Sentimental Romanticism came several very successful female writers who used emotional appeals to relate the plights of women to readers. The Transcendentalists who held a philosophical understanding of equality based on human nature rather than characteristics of individuals, asserted that all people are equal by nature, yet didn’t particularly concern themselves with inequality of women. In thought, the Dark Romantics shared the same belief in equality as the other groups of Romantics.
It is also a state of equality, in which no-one has more power and authority than anyone else; because it is simply obvious that creatures of the same species and status, all born to all the same advantages of nature and to the use of the same abilities, should also be equal ·in other ways·, with no-one being subjected to or subordinate to anyone else, unless ·God·, the lord and master of them all, were to declare clearly and explicitly his wish that some one person be raised above the others and given an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty.
As every child grows up, normally they are taught that everybody is equal. No matter who you are, race, gender, or color, you are just as equal as the person next to you. At least, that was how I was raised. I was raised in a Christian family where I learned that everyone is equal and slavery was a very bad event in American history. The idea of slavery was that slave owners would buy and use people to work on their plantations without needing to pay them. This meant that is was basically free labor. After reading the books the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom 's Cabin, my preconceived notion of slavery was changed dramatically. My idea of slavery was that African Americans were either brought to America, or were already in America, and were forced to do work against their will. Their work environments were extremely harsh and inhumane. But, after reading these
Vindication of the Rights for Women by Mary Wollstonecraft was published in 1792, during the French Revolution. Wollstonecraft preached that intellect will always govern to persuade women not to endeavor to acquire knowledge but convince them that the soft phrases, acceptability of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are most preferred. By intellect, I mean the men because they were the ones that were allowed to get an education therefore allowing them to become intellectual. Wollstonecraft cleverly does not try to prove her point through protests or accusations, but argue that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. She believed it was unfair for women to be treated differently and passionately wanted to make a change. That it was time to let go of feelings and begin the thought process behind the rationality of the women’s predicament. Men felt that while they would get an education an...
Women today are still viewed as naturally inferior to men, despite the considerable progress done to close this gap. Females have made a huge difference in their standing from 200 years ago. Whether anyone is sexist or not, females have made considerable progress from where they started, but there is still a long journey ahead. Mary Wollstonecraft was an advocate of women 's rights, a philosopher, and an English writer. One of Wollstonecraft’s best works was “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792). In her writing, she talks about how both men and women should be treated equal, and reasoning could create a social order between the two. In chapter nine of this novel, called “Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society,”
Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice on her views of the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put a blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.
The Enlightenment questioned the role of women. For centuries men have dominated what the role of women should be. Many male writers believed that that women were lower intellectually value to men. But there were some philosophies, which showed some positive feed back for women. They argued that women were capable of all that men are. It was the woman thinkers who added new perspectives to the women question by suggesting better improvements for woman. Those thinkers believed that woman should be better educated. They should be able to learn what men are learning. A English writer Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was the fonder of modern European feminism. She began the women movement arguing the rights of women. She declared, that women should have equal rights with education and in economic and political life.