Presocratics about woman: between apology and misogyny
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17721/sophia.2020.18.13Keywords:
early Greek philosophy, pre-Socratics, woman, misogyny, cosmology, embryology, gender studiesAbstract
The article provides a historical and philosophical reconstruction and a comprehensive and systematic coverage of the understanding of
women in the fragments of thinkers of the pre-classical period of ancient philosophy.
Preclassical ancient philosophy reflected mainly in four conceptual aspects: cosmological, embryological, misogynistic and apologetic. It is
proved that in fact every of the early ancient Greek thinkers to a certain extent concerned the understanding of the phenomenon of women. It is
highlighted that, based on the evidence of Akusilaus, Pythagoras and Empedocles, the phenomenon of the female arises as one of the formative
factors along with the male, which implicitly speaks of the equality of both sexes in the cosmological aspect. It is substantiated that the ancient
Greek preclassical embryology, although in many respects was mistaken in its views, however, these "false ideas" testified to the equality of both
sexes for the emergence of a new person in the world. It was revealed that the misogynistic ideas of the early ancient thinkers were based on the
fact that a woman has certain flaws, and therefore it is a big trouble if a person is under her power. Sometimes, such a vision led the philosophers
of this period to have a negative attitude towards the institution of marriage. It was revealed that apologetic thinking about women were based on
the fact that a woman has the right to education, training, and also that the main thing is to see in a woman not only an object of desire and a bearer
of beauty, but a decent citizen who obeys power and established traditions.
Preserved fragments of early Greek philosophers indicate the continuity of thought in ancient philosophy and their reception as thinkers of the
classical (Plato, Aristotle) and Hellenistic (Plutarch, Simplicius, Philo) periods. The achievements of the pre-Socratics in the context of this issue
also indicate that the women's issue arose from the very beginning of Western European philosophical discourse.
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