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Janet Radcliffe Richards

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Sceptical Feminist: A Philosophical Enquiry Paperback – International Edition, January 5, 1982

by Richards J Radcliffe (Author)

4.4 8 ratings

Part of: Routledge Library Editions: Feminist Theory (32 books)

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The Sceptical Feminist (Penguin Women's Studies)
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A systematic and original study of feminist issues, The Sceptical Feminist fights a battle on two against the view that little or nothing is wrong with women's position, and at the same time against much current feminist dogma. It is written by a philosopher who, in the tradition of John Stuart Mill's classic The Subjection of Women , avoids the psychological and sociological speculation characteristic of much recent feminism and concentrates on the analysis of arguments. By these means she constructs a powerful and often unexpected case for radical change in the position of women, as well as for a change of attitude among many feminists.From her analysis, Janet Radcliffe Richards argues that positive discrimination in favour of women is essential for justice, that traditional sexual roles never had anything to do with beliefs about each sex's capabilities, that current abortion practice reflects a disguised wish to punish women's sexual activity, that 'women's work' is rightly little valued, and that traditional ideals of femininity are inherently pernicious. But she also argues that a movement for sexual justice cannot 'take the woman's side in everything', that feminism should not be thought of as the primary struggle, that dismissing 'male' logic and science will undermine feminists' own intentions, that the state should not subsidise motherhood, that ever available cr�ches would be disastrous for women, that there is no inherent degradation in prostitution, and that contempt for beauty and adornment has nothing to do with feminism.This is a book for feminists, for their critics, and for students of moral, political and social philosophy.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin UK; New Ed edition (January 5, 1982)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 370 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 014022341X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140223415
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.5 ounces

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Mr Ross J Morrow

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2014

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The book was as described, well packaged and speedily delivered. Thank you.

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Tom

Radcliffe Richards is mostly very logical (but says very little of interest and doesn't offer a real defence of feminism)

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2016

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Pretty good book and mostly very sharp reasoning, although Richards' narrowly philosophical purview prevents her from saying anything important about women's position in her society (the best way to defend feminism is surely through statistics, talking about economic arrangements, corporate power and so on). I really enjoyed her analysis of "nature" and her excellent take-downs of anti-feminist logic. She did make a couple of weak arguments though (guilty of the same casuistry that she spends the book criticising). Here are a few examples: she makes some specious arguments about beauty to essentially sidestep the problem of female objectification; she is too diplomatic about sex differences (we do know more about sex difference than she says we do); and for some reason, she endorses this weird Margaret Mead explanation for why the patriarchy 'came to be', that men were "jealous" of women's ability to give birth. WTF?

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William S Jamison

Classic arguments for feminism

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2014

Just reread this book since it was early 80s I read it before and thought it was the best defense of feminism. Recently entered into a discussion over the youtube video of a woman walking in NYC and then the satires made - especially the one with Princess Leia and had to ask my classes if they thought the satire was funny or not. It resulted in a very interesting dialog that is still continuing because it is current, most students were already familiar with the video, and it was a great way to bring in the topic of equality and good behavior. But rereading Janet Richard's book reminded me of how sane and philosophical her approach was to many of the issues then and they are for the most part still relevant now. In looking it up on Amazon I must say I also like the summary of the book's contents on the web page. Yes, she does offer a surprising take on how some of the arguments work out but the thinking is clear and her arguments persuasive. It is odd that the book is so expensive! Very strange. People may have to resort to the library copy on this one. For a more recent book arguing many of the same points but with a style aimed more at a wider audience Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women is an excellent choice.

2 people found this helpful

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DL

$103 for the Kindle edition! Really??

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2013

This is an important book, which left an indelible impression on my thinking soon after its original publication back in 1980.

I own two paperback copies, but would love to carry it with me on my Kindle. There is, however, no way on Earth I'm prepared to pay $103.44 for that privilege.

Please tell me this is a misprint.

4 people found this helpful

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Mary Soon Lee

A rigorous, serious, philosophical defense of feminism. Very good.

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2022

[This is a review of the 1994, second edition of this book.]

This is the third time I've read this book. I read it first in the 1980s, then for a second time some twenty-five years ago. The book sets out to provide rational, philosophical arguments in support of feminism. I like it very much. Some of its reasoning, including on the "natural" and on abortion rights, stayed with me through the twenty-five years since my last reading and clarified my own thinking.

It deserves a detailed, thoughtful review, but I don't think I could provide one without reading it through a fourth time. Is it perfect? No. For one thing, is somewhat dated, emphasizing points no longer as pertinent and giving little coverage to others that seem more urgent. It's also a rather dense book that required (at least for me!) considerable thought, not a book to skim. Yet I've not encountered anything like it, anything that builds such a rigorous, serious, philosophical defense of feminism. Very good.

4 and a half out of 5 sceptical stars.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

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Sphex

Clip her wings and then complain she cannot fly

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2010

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Feminism has a strong fundamental case, by which Janet Radcliffe Richards means that there are excellent reasons for thinking that "women suffer from systematic social injustice because of their sex". Throughout this brilliant book, which fully deserves its status as a classic, she takes this proposition as constituting the essence of feminism, and she counts anyone who accepts it as a feminist. As a philosopher she dismantles the traditionalist position, examining its arguments and revealing them for what they are: deficient in reasoning, inventive with the facts, threadbare in logic. She combines clarity and rigour with sharp wit and good humour but, most importantly, never loses sight of the central issue: feminism is first and foremost "concerned with sexual justice".

To anyone who's grown up using mobile phones, it can seem incredible there was a time - twenty years ago! - when such things were monstrous curiosities or simply didn't exist. Similarly, an increasing number of people have never known a time when women could be legally discriminated against because they were women and for no other reason. Go back a little further and women were systematically excluded from large chunks of male territory: "from most education, from the professions, from most respectable or remunerative employment, and from participation in the making of the law". Not only was a woman's property - everything she owned and earned - her husband's, she herself was often treated as one more piece of his property. "If you consider the past there is no doubt at all that the whole structure of society was designed to keep women entirely in the power of men."

The past is a different country, indeed, but we should not think of its inhabitants as entirely foreign, since we are in fact their direct descendants. Our biology hasn't changed, and we haven't suddenly become experts in logic and respecters of evidence. This was all too apparent in the foaming response to a certain celebrity's recent comments that women, in his opinion, were not as interested in sex as men. The fear felt by right-thinking folk was that if women did not have exactly the same appetites as men, this would betray the feminist ideal. According to the rather more considered opinion of Radcliffe Richards, however, the absurdity is to think that feminism has anything to do with this kind of equality. It may be true that women are satisfied by the same things as men, but that's an empirical question and nothing to do with principles of social justice. If we look at our ancestral environment, for example, the reproductively successful males "must have been the ones who succeeded in impregnating most females, while the impulse to mate must have been relatively unimportant in the female (since she would in general produce the same number of offspring whether she mated every day or twice a year), and the most successful females would have been the ones who selected the best mates and cared most conscientiously for their offspring. This would presumably lead to a strong sexual drive in males, and a strong desire to care for their offspring in females."

Radcliffe Richards takes these evolutionary arguments seriously (and has written about them in her highly recommended Human Nature After Darwin: A Philosophical Introduction ). More broadly and perhaps more controversially, she thinks that feminists "can get nowhere without logic and science" and should "be committed to an unending, unprejudiced investigation of the nature of the world as it actually is". This does not mean that feminism depends on beliefs about matters of fact, just that facts are important in any argument, feminist or otherwise.

This paramount concern with reason is reflected in the opening chapter, which lays out "The Fruits of Unreason" for our inspection. It may seem disloyal of Radcliffe Richards to point out "that feminism has some tendency to get stuck in the quagmire of unreason from time to time" and that some feminists "are so committed to their beliefs that they are unwilling even to look at evidence which might tend to dislodge them". The "new breed of anti-rational feminist" will surely think so, but Radcliffe Richards is sticking with reason. "If feminists defend irrationality they are in no position to complain if men resist all evidence and go on believing until the end of time that women are inherently weak, unreasonable and given to fits of the vapours."

Radcliffe Richards demonstrates the power of reason by taking down the likes of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and John Ruskin. Along with most men for most of recorded history, they thought women inferior and they expected women "to swallow arguments in defence of tradition" which are logically invalid, empirically implausible and morally repugnant. What these great thinkers would have made of a specimen of womankind setting them straight on matters of logic and reasoning can only be imagined, but when Radcliffe Richards reassures us that "some men are quite as capable of useful logical thinking and scientific investigation as women" we suspect she is being a little too kind.

There are many more issues - birth control, beauty, conditioning, etc. - that I haven't got space to mention but which are all dealt with in the same thoughtful way. One of the strengths of the book is the broader framework that explores more general questions of reason, nature, freedom and justice. These are essential for an understanding of feminism but also "relevant to all political and moral discussion" (I was struck, for example, by the parallels with contemporary secular humanism, which has its own extremes and can be seen as an unattractive option: "I'm not a feminist, but..." becomes "I'm not an atheist, but...").

It is a sign of progress that many discriminatory laws have been repealed and much anti-discrimination legislation enacted, and that those who openly mourn the passing of such injustices are fewer in number. Work still needs to be done, of course, here and elsewhere in the world and to that end there is no doubt that sceptical feminism will continue to make an important contribution.

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