Male and female: main differences. History of development and representatives of women's philosophy

Introduction

In human nature, as in human existence, there is nothing predetermined, predetermined - there is no “essence”. "Existence precedes essence." The essence of a person is made up of his actions, it is the result of all the choices he has made in life, his ability to implement his “project” - his pre-established goals and means, to “transcendence” - the construction of goals and meanings. And the motivation for his actions is will, the desire for freedom. These incentives are stronger than all laws, moral rules and prejudices. They must determine the family structure, love relationships. Our objective essence presupposes the existence of another. And vice versa, it is the freedom of the other that serves as the basis for our essence.”

Simone de Beauvoir tried to find out for herself and explain to the reader what this “female destiny” is, what is behind the concept of “natural purpose of sex”, how and why the position of a woman in this world differs from the position of a man, whether, in principle, a woman is capable of becoming a full-fledged personality, and if so, under what conditions, in what ways, what circumstances limit a woman’s freedom and how to overcome them.

Simone de Beauvoir's book "The Second Sex" represents an attempt - and a successful attempt - to demarcate the Marxist approach to the "woman question". Its focus is not on the “masses of women” and their “collective struggle” for the common cause of the “proletariat.” Its focus is on the female personality or the “situation” of a woman in history, given by physiology and anatomy, psychology and social traditions. Simone de Beauvoir examines this “situation” using the concepts of free will, autonomy, self-realization through a “project.” She focuses her analysis mainly on the topic interpersonal relationships man and woman - the relationship of One and the Other, seen through the prism of “true being” - the existence of a subject capable of transcendence, that is, of establishing the meanings and goals of his life. From this point of view, Simone de Beauvoir rereads the myths and legends about the “mystery of sex” , “the purpose of a woman”, “the mystery female soul" It is obvious to her that such a riddle does not exist. In the heat of controversy, she formulates her famous aphorism: “One is not born a woman, one becomes a woman.”

She argued that the physiological differences between a man and a woman do not at all predetermine their existential differences - differences in the quality of subjects of history, when one is a master and the other is his slave. This division of labor is not predetermined; it is imposed by well-defined socio-historical conditions.

Simone de Beauvoir emphasizes that since it was male activity that formed the concept of human existence as a value that raised this activity above the dark forces of nature, conquered nature itself, and at the same time woman, then man in everyday consciousness appears as a creator, creator, subject, while woman - only as an object of his power. The thesis “one is not born a woman, one becomes a woman” is directed against this prejudice. Simone de Beauvoir seeks to dispel any doubts that initially a woman has the same potentialities, the same abilities to exercise free will, transcendence and self-development as a man. Their suppression breaks a woman’s personality and does not allow a woman to develop as a person. The conflict between the original ability to be a subject and the imposed role of an object of someone else’s power determines the specifics of “women’s destiny.” But Simone de Beauvoir is convinced that this conflict is gradually being resolved. The desire for freedom triumphs over the inertia and immanence of female existence.

Simone de Beauvoir, having outlined the prospect of “authentic existence,” was able to vividly describe the “inauthenticity” of ordinary women’s everyday life - this everyday bondage that oppresses women in our days no less than in the past. Exposing, exposing everyday forms of discrimination is one of the main advantages of the book “The Second Sex”. Her other dignity is associated with the same concept of “authentic existence” and its ethics, which presupposes the acquisition of one’s “I” on the path to freedom, that is, presupposing the existence of an independent female personality, her autonomy, the ability to “appropriate” own life. Translated into the slogan “self-realization” or “self-realization,” this concept became a new creed for feminism in the second half of the 20th century.

She argued that being a woman is not a vocation, but a state, that a woman, like any person, should strive for self-affirmation as an individual - in creativity, work, self-disclosure. She is not a machine for the reproduction of the human race. Her motherhood can only be an act of free decision, and not an obligation.

Multifacetedness, versatility, diversity social space, in which more than one subject acts and which holds in tension not one conflict, but many conflicts that can be resolved in different ways. And one of them is the most ancient - the conflict between a man and a woman.

Chapter 1. Differences between men and women

Just walk down the street with with open eyes to recognize that humanity is divided into two categories of individuals, whose clothing, face, body, smile, gait, interests, activities are clearly different; maybe this difference is superficial, maybe it is destined to disappear. But one thing is certain - at the moment it exists with amazing evidence.

A man imagines himself without a woman. She can’t imagine herself without a man.” She is only what a man assigns to her. Thus, she is called “sex,” meaning that to a man she appears primarily as a being of a certain gender: for him she is a gender, and therefore is absolutely one. She defines herself and stands out in relation to the man, but not the man in relation to her; she is the inessential next to the essential. He is the Subject, he is the Absolute, she is the Other.

In essence, the separation of the sexes is a biological given, and not a moment in human history. A couple is a fundamental unity, both halves of which are chained to one another, and no stratification of society based on gender is possible. This is what defines a woman: she is the Other within a single whole, both elements of which are necessary to each other.

The world has never belonged equally to both sexes. And even today the position of women is still very disadvantageous, although it is changing. There are almost no countries where she legally has the same status as a man; often a man significantly infringes on her interests. But even when its rights are abstractly recognized, established, customary morals do not allow them to find concrete embodiment in Everyday life. From an economic point of view, men and women are practically two castes; other things being equal, men have more advantageous position and more high salary than the women who recently became their competitors. In industry, politics, etc. there are many more men, and it is they who own the most important posts. In addition to the specific power they have, they are also invested with prestige, which is traditionally supported by the entire system of raising children: the past appears behind the present, and in the past history was created exclusively by men.

Woman is not a frozen reality, but a becoming; and only in development should she be compared with a man, that is, her capabilities should be determined; great amount debates are rendered meaningless by the desire to reduce a woman to what she was, or to what she is today, when the discussion is about her abilities; There is no doubt that abilities manifest themselves clearly only when they are realized - but there is also no doubt that, considering a being whose essence is transcendence and going beyond the limits of one’s “I,” one can never draw a line.

The enslavement of a woman by her race, the limits of her individual capabilities are facts of extreme importance; a woman's body is one of the main elements that determines the position she occupies in the world. But the body alone is not enough to define a woman; it lives only by the reality that is perceived by its consciousness through actions and within the framework of society. Biology alone is not enough to answer the question that interests us; why is a woman the Other?

Thus, a woman cannot be considered simply as an organism of a certain sex: among biological data, only those that acquire specific value through her actions are significant; A woman’s self-awareness is determined not only by her sexuality, it reflects a situation interconnected with economic structure society; and in it, in turn, the level of technical development achieved by humanity is expressed.

The division was established precisely in those eras when a woman was perceived as an Other, and society especially stubbornly refused to accept her as a person. Today she becomes equal to Others at the cost of losing her mystical aura. Real power has always been in the hands of men; from the very beginning of the era of patriarchy they considered it useful to keep women in a state of dependence; their legislation was directed against it; and thus she was concretely constituted as the Other. This provision met the economic interests of men, but it also satisfied their ontological and moral needs. When a subject tries to assert himself, he still needs the Other, who limits and denies him, because he can achieve himself only through a reality that is not himself.

Chapter 2. Girl

An adult girl becomes less romantic than she was in adolescence, and thinks more about marriage than about love. Her future husband She is no longer depicted in a divine aura, she strives only for a strong position in the world, she wants to begin to lead her life as a woman. For most grown girls, whether they work or not, they live locked up in parental home or enjoy some kind of freedom, the most important task in life is to find a husband or at least a permanent lover.

Today we will try to find out how a man differs from a woman. Moreover we'll talk about behavior, characteristics of life, as well as psychology. External data will not be taken into account - it is already clear that we are all different from each other. But health, mental structure, as well as other aspects of life sometimes deserve attention. In general, the question of how people differ from each other is a very interesting thing. And when you have to look separately at a man and then at a woman, it’s difficult to distract from the topic. It would seem that we are all human - we have the same needs, instincts and desires. But the perception of the world is different. Moreover, it depends, for the most part, on gender. So what is the difference between a man and a woman? Humor often talks about "female logic", for example. Or about differences in behavior. We will have to understand what causes such phenomena. Maybe this will teach you to understand each other better.

Chromosomes

It all starts at the biological level. The body receives all differences from each other at the moment of conception. It is when it becomes clear who is destined to be born - a boy or a girl - to a couple. How is a woman different from a man biologically?

This is not so difficult to understand. Firstly, gender characteristics. Women have a slightly different structure of the genital organs. This is noticeable to the naked eye. And thanks to this phenomenon, even before birth, in most cases it is possible to say for sure who will be born - a boy or a girl.

Secondly, the chromosome sets of men and women are different. As you know, there are many double chromosomes in the body. And these are the differences between boys and girls. Women have what are called X chromosomes. And men in the 23rd pair have Y chromosomes. What does it mean?

In biological terms, in a girl the 23rd pair of chromosomes consists of XX, and in men - of XY. It is also worth noting that the egg always contains “X’s”, and the sperm always contains “X’s” and “I’s”. The gender of the child depends on the mixing of these chromosomes. But it’s not worth going deeper into this area. It is clear how a man differs from a woman at the biological level. But what next?

Opposites

It's not for nothing that they say that opposites attract each other. If you think about it carefully, this is indeed true. Why? The thing is that if you decide to find out how a man differs from a woman, you may notice that some are the complete opposite of others. And in every sense.

The very perception of the world between men and women is radically different from each other. For example, it is worth paying attention to the clarity of the information received. The ladies preserve it just fine. It’s not for nothing that girls are considered excellent gossips - they can convey information “through 10 hands” and at the same time preserve the truth of the meaning. True, they love to be cunning and get out.

But straightforwardness is a purely masculine trait. Guys, as a rule, are not used to storing details and unnecessary information in their brains. They express their thoughts directly, without hints. That is, “yes” is yes, “no” is no. And there are no deviations from these principles. So we can already say that a man and a woman are the complete opposite of each other. But this is precisely what brings them together.

Aspirations

Over time, the world changes. And so does the perception of it. But the patterns that have developed in the heads of women and men still remain at approximately the same level. That is, the aspirations and goals in life of both always remain the same. Yes, there are some deviations, but they are still not so significant and widespread in modern world.

What is it about? Why are men different from women? For example, because of goals in life and aspirations. Men are leaders, providers. For them, as a rule, career plays a huge role, own successes, self-realization. But women are the custodians of the home. Every girl, even on a subconscious and unconscious level, will strive to start a family, a relationship, and have children. In other words, to realize yourself as a mother. Men, as already mentioned, give preference to career growth.

Yes, recently there has been a picture that completely turns the perception of the modern world upside down. That is, men and women are changing places more and more often. Often in families, the breadwinner is now the mother. And dad leaves his career and takes care of the house. A kind of role reversal. It can be considered a deviation for now. But in general, women and men still differ for the most part in their aspirations.

Brain

The brains of boys and girls deserve special attention. As strange as it may sound, the difference in this area is simply phenomenal. And not only on a psychological or biological level. We can say that in terms of “functionality” the brains of a girl and a boy are not the same.

What does it mean? How are women different from men? Evidence indicates that a guy can only focus on one task at a time. But the girl is on several at once. So to speak, women's brains are more functional and versatile in this regard. Therefore, you should not be surprised that a girl can cook, embroider, do laundry, talk on the phone, and do her own manicure at the same time, while a man at the same time does only one thing. The girl has more neuron fibers in her brain. That is why he is able to concentrate on several tasks at once.

Alcohol

Another very interesting fact- this is the perception of alcohol. It's no secret that women hardly know how to drink. And it's not their fault. That's how it works human body. Have you ever wondered what is the difference between a man and a woman? Then take a closer look at one and the other - you will notice everything with the naked eye. You will see that women only need a little alcohol and they lose control of themselves.

All this can be explained at the biological level. When drinking alcohol, the body begins to produce special antibodies and enzymes. And it depends on them how quickly a person gets drunk. Men produce them better. Therefore, it is more difficult for them to get drunk.

Behavior

Our conversation continues. How is a man different from a woman? Psychology indicates that the difference between the first and second is enormous. She's literally everywhere. And not only at the biological level.

For example, the behavior of women and men is truly radically different. Girls are energetic individuals, flirts, those who are used to taking care of their appearance and health. One might say that a certain lightness is associated with them. Cunning, resourceful, they can perform several tasks at once.

But men seem more restrained, courageous, and strong. They concentrate on only one goal and go towards it until they achieve the desired result. They don't spend that much time on appearance. There are exceptions, but they are not very common.

So the behavior of men and women is really different. And this is where conflicts often arise between them. Solving them is almost useless - psychology has been around for many years.

Conversations

It has been proven that men and women communicate in different languages. More precisely, their speech development differs from each other. This does not mean that women are more developed in this area and communicate better, far from it. We are talking about something a little different.

What exactly? How does a man differ from a woman in terms of speech? Because girls are more talkative. Their speech is better developed, they are talkative and open. But men are usually silent. “Chattering” and “scratching your tongue” without any meaning is not for them. A normal phenomenon that is very easy and simple to notice in modern life. Girls are capable of “talking incessantly” for any reason and even without them.

Observation

It is worth paying attention to such a feature as observation. It is different for boys and girls. Just like any other area of ​​human life. It has been proven that women themselves are more observant. They tend to pay attention to details, to focus on all the details of a particular object. Men, on the other hand, perceive information as a whole; details, as a rule, are not as important to them as the true meaning of a thing.

Women under stress or some kind of emotional upheaval quickly lose their heads. And all their powers of observation disappear instantly. Men under stress, on the contrary, begin to behave more attentively. Here's a little thing that's worth paying attention to. After all, this is why the upbringing of boys and girls should be different - excess stress makes a woman absent-minded, and a man - collected and organized. Of course, everything should be in moderation.

Love

Now is the time to pay attention to the two most big problems humanity - relationships and love. It is these directions that a guy and a girl will differ radically. Sometimes even too much. What is the difference between a man's love and a woman's love?

Feelings are important to a girl. She needs to understand that she is the one and only for her lover. A woman is guided by her feelings and heart when choosing a partner. She gives all of herself and devotes her life to a man. One might say, to some extent, he becomes completely attached to the person.

But men have a slightly different perception. They, as they say, “love with their eyes.” For them, a woman’s appearance and her certain qualities play a huge role. Feelings tend to be relegated to the background. If a girl in a relationship considers herself obligated and busy, then men often do not feel any such responsibility. And this becomes a huge problem that destroys even the most true love.

Relationship

Relationships, as already mentioned, are also problematic when studying men and women. Why? In principle, for the same reasons as in the case of love - the “device” is different for guys and girls. Due to this, even simple relationships are perceived differently.

A woman in a relationship is a busy person. She, as already mentioned, devotes herself to her beloved man. And accordingly, she tries with all her might to tie him to herself. You could say it suppresses freedom. Both yours and the man's. All this is done on a psychological level. After all, women are less protected; they try to find their support in the form of a man, and then not let go of it.

But guys, on the contrary, are freedom-loving. And they, for the most part, do not attach any special importance to relationships. And even more so, there can be no talk of any super-responsibility. Often a busy man considers himself completely free. But at the same time, his chosen one, in his opinion, is not one. In other words, a woman in a relationship is always busy, and a man is free. This is exactly what many people think. This leads to problems - the girl claims the freedom of her loved one, but he does not want to “cut his wings”. All this leads to the collapse of relationships.

Both men and women are representatives of the human race. There is a lot in common between them, but they are even more different. Visible differences in the structure of the body and genitals are the tip of the iceberg.

Psychological and social differences in the personality of representatives of the two sexes are so significant that men and women seem to each other the same complex riddle On the Earth.

How is a man different from a woman? Why is it so important to know and consider these differences?

Definition of masculine and feminine

Despite the fact that the talking brain, nervous system men and women are built in the same way, they perceive and react to the world differently. Thoughts, feelings, emotions, needs have different directions. Habits, behavior and worldviews differ so much that sometimes representatives of both sexes do not understand each other, as if they speak different languages. In men and women different style and lifestyle, .

Personality qualities, character traits, temperament and other mental characteristics are objectively the same for the strong and weak half of humanity. The division into “male” and “female” qualities is conventionally accepted in society as features predominantly characteristic of one or another gender.

A man is an active, purposeful, strong, courageous, strong-willed Doer and Defender. He focuses on the external, objective world. The woman is kind, gentle, emotional, intuitive, striving for constancy and stability. She is focused on inner world, relationships and feelings Hearthkeeper and Mother.

Men strive to achieve a specific goal, result, women - to create relationships and harmony. A man prefers to act, a woman prefers to feel and experience.

A woman lives as her heart tells her, a man is guided by the arguments of his reason.

A man has many purely feminine, feminine qualities, while a woman has many masculine, muscular qualities. Some men and some women are courageous. The difference between a man and a woman in psychological terms is conditional. Upbringing, self-education, education, lifestyle leave an imprint on the personality and determine the development of feminine or masculine character traits.

Differences in worldview and attitude

Each person is an individual, with a special combination of personality traits and qualities. Science studies the psychology not of specific men and women, but of average statistical data obtained through research and experimentation. Scientists rely on ideas about a typical representative of a particular gender.

Men and women look at the world differently and perceive it differently, despite the fact that they have the same senses. Vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste determine the picture of the world. Information about environment comes from the senses to the human brain, where it is processed.

The male brain is larger than the female and weighs more, but the ratio of brain size to body size is the same in men and women. The left and right hemispheres of the female brain have a greater number of neural connections between each other, which allows the fair sex to engage in big amount things at the same time. Men prefer to concentrate on one task at a specific moment in time; problems are solved step by step.

The differences in the worldview and worldview of men and women have not been fully studied, since the field of research in this area is unusually wide.

Some differences between women and male gaze on life and peculiarities of perception of the world:

• Orientation in space. Men better than women navigate in space and understand maps. It is easy for a woman to get lost, even if she has a map of the area. Men determine mileage and cardinal directions, women focus on features landscape and direction of movement.
• Smell. Women are better oriented and distinguish odors more easily, and are more sensitive to the intensity and strength of aroma. When choosing a man, a woman is guided by his natural smell. It is unconsciously assessed as an indicator of a man’s health (strong or weak immunity and set of genes) and sexual compatibility with a woman.
• Vision. Men have naturally sharper vision, they see better in the distance and in the dark. Women are better at distinguishing and understanding shades of color and light. They have better developed peripheral and lateral vision. If a woman sees an object without turning towards it, without turning her head, the man is forced to do this.

• Pain. Women have more recipes for the sensation of pain, so they feel it more sharply, stronger and longer. Men are less sensitive to pain, the intensity of pain is reduced by perception. But women have more mechanisms to cope with pain and are designed to eliminate it.
• Response in an emergency situation. In an acute extreme situation, a man maintains sobriety of mind and speed of reactions, acts correctly and calmly. Women are more worried and panicky. They do not like not only extreme situations, but also any new situations that they have never been in before.
• Sexual pleasure. On average, a man is able to obtain sexual satisfaction after just four minutes of sex; for women, this figure varies from ten to twenty minutes. After sex, a woman's body is programmed to remain in a lying position, motionless, as this increases the likelihood of conception. After orgasm, both men and women activate the right, creative hemisphere of the brain.

Psychological differences between women and men

The difference between men and women in psychological terms was noticed by philosophers in ancient times. From philosophical reasoning to psychological research differences in male and female psychology scientists moved on in the century before last. From then to the present day, many studies have been carried out, the results of which confirm that the differences in the psychology of men and women are significant and significant.

They both need to know the difference between a man and a woman in order to understand each other and build relationships.

Features of the psychology of gender are taken into account in the relationship not only of specific men and women, but also of men and women in general.

Differences between women and men in psychology:

• Thinking. Women think in images, rely on logical thinking, they rely on sensations and reason.
• Emotional-volitional sphere. Both men and women can experience deep and strong feelings. But emotionality as a character trait is more characteristic of women. It is more difficult for women to manage emotions and mood. This is due to frequent changes in hormonal levels and its cyclical nature. Women often feel nervous, anxious, and experience phobias and phobias. Willpower and fearlessness are more developed in men.
• Temperament. Men are more likely to be active choleric people and, and women are more likely to be
• Self-esteem. and women's self-esteem is often low. They worry more about not fitting into ideals and accepted standards, like appearance, and behavior.
• Priorities and social needs. A man wants to achieve success in his career, realize himself as a professional, and acquire status in society. A woman wants to be loved, start a family, become a harmonious person, and fulfill herself as a wife and mother.

The combination of masculine and feminine principles gives rise to an integral system where the elements complement and emphasize each other.

A woman is looking for her man, and a man is looking for a woman. Simultaneously similar and different, they experience attraction to each other, which develops into love.

The attitude of philosophers towards women in our time is deservedly rethought. And they seemed to have reasons for that. For example, "philosopher of pessimism" Arthur Schopenhauer had an incredible hatred for the female sex and blamed her for all the ills of humanity because of the way she treated love. Either women, along with society, have become different, or philosophers have been very unlucky - it’s up to you to decide. We publish the thoughts of Western philosophers about women and gender difference. In the title, by the way, is the thought of Erasmus of Rotterdam, expressed on behalf of Stupidity.

Erasmus of Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1469 - 1536

Erasmus was illegitimate son priest The father loved his chosen one so much that, even despite the protests of her parents, he stayed with her. The famous humanist was a very desirable child, but, alas, illegitimate.

At the age of 13, Erasmus was left without parents. Left orphaned, the boy grew up cowardly and timid. And when he realized that a secular career with such a background was not possible for him, he entered a monastery. During his life he traveled a lot: he left Holland early, lived in France, England and different parts Italy.

Erasmus's most famous work is the philosophical satire In Praise of Folly. It easily and humorously ridicules the world from the point of view of stupidity.

Erasmus of Rotterdam. Portrait by Holbein from the collection of Longford Castle

“Men were born for the affairs of government, and therefore had to receive a few extra drops of reason necessary to maintain male dignity; on this occasion, the man turned to me for guidance - as, by the way, he always does - and I immediately gave him worthy advice: to marry a woman, an incomprehensible and stupid brute, but funny and sweet, so that she would season her with her stupidity and sweetened the dreary importance of the male mind.<…>Even if a woman wants to be considered smart, no matter how hard she fights, she will turn out to be doubly a fool, like a bull that, in defiance of reason, is led to a list, for every congenital vice is only aggravated by attempts to hide it under the guise of virtue. The Greek proverb says correctly: a monkey always remains a monkey, even if he dresses in purple; so a woman will always be a woman, in other words, a fool, no matter what mask she puts on herself. And yet I do not consider women so stupid as to be offended by my words, for I myself am a woman and my name is Stupidity.”

Arthur Schopenhauer, Germany, 1788 - 1860

The “Philosopher of Pessimism” became famous for his aphoristic writing style. He received his nickname because he considered our world “the worst possible world.” Naturally, he was a misanthrope, a mystic and gravitated toward romanticism. Appreciated the ideas of Buddhism. He criticized his contemporaries Hegel and Fichte. Indeed, it is difficult to find two people as opposite, at least in writing style, as Hegel and Schopenhauer. And their attitude towards women is still different. The latter was an ardent misogynist.

Schopenhauer's metaphysical analysis of the will, his views on human motivation (he was the first to use this term) and desires, and his aphoristic writing style influenced many famous thinkers, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud , Otto Rank, Carl Jung, Leo Tolstoy and Jorge Luis Borges.

Portrait of 29-year-old Arthur Schopenhauer by L. Ruhl

“The short, narrow-shouldered, wide-hipped sex could only be called beautiful by the mind of a man, foggy by sexual urge: all his beauty lies in this urge.”

“With greater justification it could be called an unaesthetic, or ungraceful, floor. And indeed, women have neither sensitivity nor true inclination either for music, or for poetry, or for the educational arts; and if they indulge in them and rush around with them, then this is nothing more than simple monkeying for the purposes of coquetry and the desire to please.”

“The nobler and more perfect a thing is, the later and slower it reaches its maturity. A man acquires maturity of reason and spiritual strength hardly before the age of twenty-eight; woman - happy eighteenth year. But that’s what reason is like: quite meagerly measured.”

“Women are inclined (adapted) to nurturing and educating our first childhood because they themselves are childish, absurd and short-sighted, in a word, all their lives they represent big children: a kind of intermediate stage between a child and a man, who is actually a person.” .

“One should not at all neglect the custom of the ancient Germans - in difficult circumstances, they also called women to a meeting, for their way of perceiving things is completely different from ours, especially in that it tends to notice the shortest path to the goal and, in general, everything nearby that we, depending on into the distance for the most part we lose sight of it precisely because it lies under our noses.”

Despising Judaism, Schopenhauer nevertheless highly valued the story of the Fall and called it a “brilliant point.” The Old Testament lines turned out to be close to the philosopher’s views on sexual love. According to Schopenhauer, this phenomenon reveals the metaphysical basis of life. Love is an uncontrollable instinct, a powerful spontaneous attraction to procreation. The lover has no equal in his madness in idealizing the beloved being, and yet all this is a “stratagem” of the genius of the race, in whose hands the lover is a blind instrument, a toy.

The attractiveness of one creature in the eyes of another is based on favorable data for producing good offspring. When this goal is achieved by nature, the illusion instantly dissipates. This view of love between the sexes naturally makes woman the main culprit of evil in the world, for through her there is a constant new and new affirmation of the will to live. Nature, when creating a woman, resorted to what in theatrical jargon is called the “crackling effect.”

Aristotle, Ancient Greece, 384−322 BC e.

Most people know Aristotle as Alexander's teacher, thanks to the famous film. Meanwhile, the importance of this man for all of Western philosophy is difficult to overestimate. He was the first to create a comprehensive system of philosophy. It covered all spheres of people's lives: sociology, politics, physics and logic. The conceptual apparatus of Aristotelian formal logic and poetics is still in use among scientists.

Aristotle

We can say that Aristotle’s attitude towards women is purely pragmatic. It is derived from his political philosophy (“Politics”). We wrote about it earlier.

“It’s the same with a man in relation to a woman: the first is by nature superior, the second is lower, and so the first rules, the second is subordinate.”

“A slave does not have the ability to decide at all; a woman has it, but lacks effectiveness; a child also has it, but is in an undeveloped state.”

“The power of a husband over his wife can be compared to the power of a politician, the power of a father over his children - with the power of a king. After all, a man by his nature, excluding only certain abnormal deviations, is more called to leadership than a woman.”

“But a woman and a slave, but by nature, are different creatures: after all, the creativity of nature is in no way comparable to the pathetic work of blacksmiths making the “Delphic knife”; on the contrary, in nature every object has its own purpose. Thus, any tool will best serve its purpose if it is designed to perform one job, and not many. The barbarians have a woman and a slave; occupy the same position, and this is explained by the fact that they lack an element destined by nature to rule. They have only one form of communication - communication between a male and female slave. That is why the poet says: “It is decent for the Greeks to rule over the barbarians”; barbarian and slave are by nature identical concepts.”

Immanuel Kant, Germany, 1724−1804

The man who influenced all subsequent philosophical thought was born, grew up and died in Königsberg (present-day Kaliningrad). Immanuel Kant did not come from a wealthy family. His father was a craftsman, so when he died, Kant had to leave university and homeschool to support the remaining family members.

Kant outlived all his friends, despite the fact that he was in poor health. All thanks to the strict daily routine, which became the talk of the town even among the Germans. For example, every day Kant went for a walk at the same time and walked at a certain speed (and if he walked some part of the path faster, he stopped for a couple of minutes). One day he didn’t go out for a walk, which greatly surprised his neighbors. It's all about what they brought him new work Rousseau and Kant could not stop reading.

Immanuel Kant

He developed a hypothesis according to which solar system formed from a nebula; studied the role of ebbs and flows; outlined a plan for the genealogical classification of the animal world; tried to understand how possible it is to obtain pure, non-empirical knowledge. He was an anti-Semite. He was not married, because at first there was no money for it, and later there was no desire, but he loved women’s company very much and was considered a good conversationalist in the world. His philosophical research works “Critique of Pure Reason”, “Critique of Practical Reason” and “Critique of Judgment” have still not lost their relevance.

“It doesn’t bother a woman that she doesn’t have some high concepts that she is timid and not intended for important matters; she is beautiful and captivating - that’s enough.”

Kant on men and women

“A woman wants to command, a man wants to obey (mainly before marriage). Hence the gallantry of the old chivalry. — A woman early gains confidence that she can be liked. A young man is always afraid that he might not be liked, and therefore becomes embarrassed (sometimes shy) in female company. - To restrain the importunity of men with the respect that a woman inspires, and the right to demand respect for herself, even without any merit - a woman defends this pride and this right, based only on the legal right of her sex. — A woman is always the refusing party, a man is the harassing party; if she submits, then this is a sign of favor. - Nature wants a woman to be sought, and therefore a woman in her choice (according to her taste) should not be as picky as a man, whom nature created more rude and whom a woman likes even when he shows only physical strength and the ability to protect her ; after all, if she were disgusted by the beauty of a male figure and, falling in love, was picky, then she would be the harassing party, and he would be the refusing party; and this would humiliate her even in the eyes of a man. - In love, she should seem cold, and the man - ardent. Not obeying the call of love is unbecoming for a man, and easily succumbing to this call is shameful for a woman. — A woman’s desire to spread her charms to all secular men is coquetry; the desire to appear in love with all women is courtship; both can only be an affectation that has become fashion, without any serious consequences.”

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Germany, 1770−1831

Hegel was born in Stuttgart, Germany, into the family of a financial official. At the university he studied theology, and with friends he was in a circle that admired the French Revolution. In subsequent years, he celebrated Bastille Day. For some time he worked as a home teacher, but thanks to an inheritance he avoided the fate of a tutor for life. In 1801, he began teaching and gave lectures at the Universities of Jena and Berlin. Then he got married and in the peace of marriage he wrote his most important work, “The Science of Logic.”

Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel

Hegel, unlike Kant, did not abandon metaphysics. He believed that our Universe is rational, logical and understandable through reason. The ideal state, in Hegel’s understanding, is the triumph of the moral idea, and the structure of the state was created by the spirit, therefore the divine in it grows into the real.

“Concerning the relationship between a man and a woman, it should be noted that when a girl surrenders, she sacrifices her honor. But this does not apply to a man, since he has another sphere of moral activity. The purpose of a girl is essentially only marriage; therefore, the requirement is that love should take the form of marriage and that the various aspects contained in love should receive their truly rational relation to each other.”

“The relationship between husband and wife is the direct recognition of oneself by one consciousness in the other and the recognition of mutual recognition. Since this relationship is a natural knowledge of each other, and not a moral one, it is only a representation and image of the spirit, and not the actual spirit itself. But the idea or image has its reality in something other than this relation; That is why this relationship has its reality not in itself, but in the child - in the “other”, whose becoming it is and in which it itself disappears; and this succession of generations succeeding one after another receives its constancy among the people. The reverence of a husband and wife for each other, therefore, is mixed with a natural relationship and with feeling, and their relationship itself is not inherent in a return to itself.”

Women's philosophy occupies a special place in global philosophy. In the lists of famous philosophers female names practically never occur, but their contribution to the development of science is large and significant enough to allocate a separate niche for it.

Features of women's philosophy

Women's philosophy cannot be similar to the philosophy of men. The physical and mental difference between the sexes gives women a special approach to understanding themselves, their place in the world and the main values ​​in life.

The main values ​​of a woman

The basic need for every woman is to feel loved and desired. The gender role instructs her to strive to create a family. It is within the family that the need for acceptance is realized. Taking care of your family and husband makes you feel needed.

Most women, among their core values, highlight:

• Love;
• motherhood;
• beauty;
• health;
• financial stability;
• self-realization.

Men in a similar survey put first place financial well-being. This difference is due to differences in gender psychology. However, in the modern world, the strict boundaries of social roles are rapidly erasing. Changes in social policy allow women to simultaneously play their traditional role and take on a masculine one, becoming the main breadwinner in the family. Such changes, affecting the very basis of relationships, become main theme modern women's philosophy.

Peculiarities of a woman's view of the world

Throughout her life, a woman performs different social roles that influence her worldview and shape her personality. These include:

• daughter;
• sister;
• wife;
• mother;
• pupil;
• worker;
• girlfriend.

Moving from one stage of development to another, a woman gains life experiences that influence her attitude towards the world, her life, life purpose and other key issues.

Since for a long time the role of a woman in society was passively observant, this could not help but be reflected in her views. In contrast to men, who cultivate the ideas of actively exploring the world and transforming it to suit their needs, women more often take the position of a silent contemplator. In this case, non-interference in the processes of social change allows us to look in depth and understand the essence of the phenomenon. Based on such observations, innovative ideas are often born, which in turn make it possible to influence society through non-violent methods.

Women and beauty

Throughout the development of human civilization, stereotypes about beauty as the main female value and vocation have been formed and consolidated. Beauty standards change under the influence of the political and sociological situation in the world, but the need for ideal remains unchanged.

Beauty as a weapon

Philosophies about women are characterized by the fact that men and women have different variants personality development and different purposes. The peculiarity of a man’s social role is to be a breadwinner and protector. The woman is assigned the role of keeper of the hearth. The man conquers and dominates the relationship, while the woman gives in and is protected by him.

If a man’s weapon is his physical strength, financial wealth and high status in society, then a woman’s weapon is her appearance. With the help of beauty, she can achieve a higher position and receive various privileges.

Beauty as a value

At the heart of the relationship is the idea of ​​the unity of two opposites. A strong active man and a weak passive woman together create a harmonious union. To be able to create an alliance (in the understanding modern society- nuclear family), a woman must have necessary qualities. One of them is physical beauty.

Model appearance is main value for women of any age, nationality and social status. Loss of beauty due to an accident, illness or due to age-related changes in the body can cause apathy, depression and even suicide. Therefore one of key issues women's philosophy - the concept of beauty and its role in a woman's life.

The myth of beauty

The modern perception of beauty is undergoing major changes. Third wave feminist icon Naomi Wolf, in her famous work The Beauty Myth, views beauty as a social construct created within patriarchy. Patriarchy or male power is a feature of the world order in which being male gives a person special rights from birth. Being female obliges you to play the role of a subordinate. One of the responsibilities of a submissive woman is to be beautiful.

Beauty standards are set in such a way that they are impossible to achieve. Natural Features appearances are declared undesirable and harmful. To them in different time were or are: body hair, lip shape, hair structure, weight, height and other body characteristics.

In an effort to achieve the ideal, a woman must spend huge amounts of money, limit herself in food, and cause serious harm to her health. Since many innate physiological characteristics cannot be changed, the ideal of beauty remains unattainable. This makes a woman suffer and feel inferior. The “Beauty Myth” argues that women can only become happy when they give up the pursuit of an imposed ideal and realize that their value is not determined only by external appearance.

Famous women philosophers

Despite the ban on education, there is no shortage of women philosophers. Even in ancient times there were famous thinkers who were respected by their contemporaries. The list of founders of women's philosophy includes:

1. Hannah Arendt. A Jewish woman who was forced to flee France and found refuge in America. Wrote several works about political structure. In her books, she examined the features of tyranny as a form of power and the desire of people for totalitarianism.
2. Philippa Foote. She has been involved in research into ethical issues. She taught at Oxford and worked with many modern philosophers. Her essay "Virtue and Vices" is considered a classic of modern philosophy.
3. Elizabeth Anscombe. She has been involved in research in many fields, including ethics, logic, linguistics and metaethics. She became famous for her series of articles “Internationality,” which examined the moral foundations that determine a person’s intentions and actions. She introduced the term “consequentialism” into philosophical discourse.
4. Mary Wollstonecraft. English writer and philosopher. She advocated women's free access to education, for which she can be considered one of the founders of feminist philosophy. In addition to political and social literature, she wrote fiction books, including children's books. Her daughter also became a writer, she is the author of the novel Frankenstein.
5. Hypatia of Alexandria. Daughter of Theon's philosophy, follower of the views of Plato and Aristotle. She was influential politician of his time and famous philosopher. She taught philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, and after her father’s death she directed his school. She made a great contribution to the development of scholasticism.
6. Anna Dufourmentel. French philosopher, researched the philosophy of risk. She wrote 30 books, the work “In Defense of Risk” brought her the greatest fame. In it, the writer considers risk as a necessary motivation for development.
7. Harriet Taylor-Mill. Founder of British feminism. After the death of her first husband, she married the philosopher and like-minded person John Mill, and studied with him social role women in society. Based on her essay, Mill wrote On the Subjection of Women, which became one of the first officially published books on feminism.
8. Catherine Gines. A lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, she studies Africa and the characteristics of “black” feminism. Founded the College of Black Women Philosophers. Bouvoir criticized feminist ideas for lack of inclusiveness. According to Gines, in addition to patriarchy, main problem There is still racism for black women and it needs to be addressed.
9. Simone de Bouvoir. One of the founders of “white” feminism. Author of several dozen books, the most famous of which is “The Second Sex.” In it, the writer examines the role of women in the modern world, the characteristics of relationships with men, motherhood and other basic aspects of life. Together with Jean-Paul Sartre, she developed and popularized French existentialism. Her famous statement “Women are not born, they are made” has become one of the most widely used literary quotes.
10. Carol Gilligan. She examined the standards of morality and ethics, criticizing the universality of concepts. She founded the school of ethics of care and wrote several books on the psychology of women.