Definition of Feminist Epistemology

Feminist epistemologies point out that, to the extent that knowledge is produced by different subjectivities, the result is diverse. According to different aspects, there will be a greater or lesser commitment to the possibility of accessing an objective truth through science, as we will see below.

At the same time, they will carry out a fight against the exclusion of non-cis-masculine subjectivities in the field of production of knowledge, historically organized under male privilege, under the argument that women would not be "fit" for the thought and science. It's about a

movement which, on the one hand, accompanies other criticisms of the traditional epistemological canon (see Epistemologies of the South) and, on the other hand, is part of feminism insofar as social movement broader, whose interests are linked to a transformation of the social order.

Feminist empiricism

Within feminist epistemologies, we can distinguish between different currents. The first one that we will mention is feminist empiricism, which focuses on the androcentric biases of scientific production. That is, she argues that, since it is mostly men who research and produce science, they would not be able to perceive their own gender biases, so they end up misrepresenting the objectivity of the knowledge. In this way, the possibility of objectivity itself is not questioned, but rather the proposal assumes that such objectivity could be achieved by correcting such gender biases. The solution would lie, then, in the incorporation of women scientists and researchers into the field of knowledge, whose counterweight would correct the problem, posed in methodological terms. The scientific methodThus, it is enough to access a non-androcentric truth, as long as its practices are reformed.

Point of view theory

The feminist point of view in epistemology, whose main representative is the American philosopher Sandra Harding (1935), sustains a critique of the previous proposal. It would not be possible to correct the scientific method by changing its practices by including more women because, ultimately, it is necessary to rethink the norms of investigation, taking into account that they respond to a broader social context.

The female point of view would be, for this theory, an epistemologically privileged point of view compared to the male point of view, since historically it has been conformed as a socially subjugated point of view and, therefore, is capable of accounting for problems that from a socially hegemonic point of view are not thinkable. In other words: women, being part of a historically oppressed subjectivity, are capable of observing, from the peripheries, strategic problems that remain obscure for those who are located in the center of the field of knowledge, namely, mens.

At the same time, it is necessary to take into account, in addition to gender biases, other conditioning factors: social classes, race, culture. Consequently, the power of the feminist point of view would lie in its ability to rethink the scientific problems, taking into account contextual conditions that were previously excluded from the field of scientificity. Then, it would result in a "strong objectivity", as opposed to the "weak objectivity" of the epistemological tradition.

Queer Philosophies in Epistemology

Finally, we will refer to the idea of ​​"queer", which implies a refusal to assume, from feminism, the identification with a type of identity dice. That is, feminism should not consist of a theory "of women" or "for women", but rather a deconstructive gesture of gender identity understood in binary terms: feminine and male. One of the main philosophers who has developed this notion is Judith Butler (1956), proposing to think gender identity as a performative act. We can mention, along the same lines, the philosopher Paul B. Preciado (1970) or the zoologist and philosopher Donna Haraway (1944).

These are different theoretical elaborations that share as a presupposition the need to rethink the very notion of objectivity in science, - understood by tradition philosophy of the West - as a form of privileged access to the world that was exclusively assigned to the human being and, at the same time, identifying that human being as "man". Ultimately, the problem on which this theoretical aspect focuses is that of the modern separation between subject and object, the foundation of canonical scientific knowledge.

Bibliographic consulted

HARDING, S. (1996) Science and feminism. Madrid, Morata Editions.

BUTLER, J. (2007) The gender in dispute. Feminism and the subversion of identity. Barcelona, ​​Paidós.

Topics in Feminist Epistemology