Although Hegel and feminism seem an unlikely couple, Hegelian philosophy played a prominent part in the thinking of groundbreaking feminist philosophers from Simone de Beauvoir to Luce Irigaray. This book offers a new generation of feminist readings of Hegel from leading scholars in the both fields. Through close readings and innovative arguments, this book makes a significant contribution to the debate on gender and provides insight into philosophical method.

Hegel and Feminist Philosophy traces the legacy of Hegel in the work of thinkers such as de Beauvoir, Irigaray and Butler, and also in contemporary debates in feminist ethics and political philosophy. As Hutchings demonstrates, this is an ambivalent legacy. Hegel figures both as an antagonistic 'other' and as a significant resource for feminist thinking from de Beauvoir onwards. Hegel's philosophy is antagonistic to feminism in so far as it denigrates the female or feminist subject, excluding women from both reason and history. His work provides a resource for feminist philosophy because his account of reason and history is fundamentally non-binary and can be drawn on in feminist philosophy's attempts to escape the binary thinking of the philosophical tradition. Hutchings claims that feminist philosophy is characterized by patterns of thought which oscillate between accepting and overturning conceptual dualisms central to the philosophical tradition. She suggests that Hegelian elements within feminist thought provide the basis for a rethinking of feminist philosophy which escapes this either/or choice and opens up new possibilities for feminism. This is demonstrated by showing how Hegelian modes of thinking help to resolve entrenched debates within feminist philosophy over sexual difference, ethical judgement and equality of right. Hegel and Feminist Philosophy will be of great interest to students and scholars of philosophy, women's studies and political theory.

Hegel and Feminist Philosophy traces the legacy of Hegel in the work of thinkers such as de Beauvoir, Irigaray and Butler, and also in contemporary debates in feminist ethics and political philosophy. As Hutchings demonstrates, this is an ambivalent legacy. Hegel figures both as an antagonistic 'other' and as a significant resource for feminist thinking from de Beauvoir onwards. Hegel's philosophy is antagonistic to feminism in so far as it denigrates the female or feminist subject, excluding women from both reason and history. His work provides a resource for feminist philosophy because his account of reason and history is fundamentally non-binary and can be drawn on in feminist philosophy's attempts to escape the binary thinking of the philosophical tradition. Hutchings claims that feminist philosophy is characterized by patterns of thought which oscillate between accepting and overturning conceptual dualisms central to the philosophical tradition. She suggests that Hegelian elements within feminist thought provide the basis for a rethinking of feminist philosophy which escapes this either/or choice and opens up new possibilities for feminism. This is demonstrated by showing how Hegelian modes of thinking help to resolve entrenched debates within feminist philosophy over sexual difference, ethical judgement and equality of right. Hegel and Feminist Philosophy will be of great interest to students and scholars of philosophy, women's studies and political theory.

This book presents a unique rethinking of G. W. F. Hegel's philosophy from unusual and controversial perspectives in order to liberate new energies from his philosophy. The role Hegel ascribes to women in the shaping of society and family, the reconstruction of his anthropological and psychological perspective, his approach to human nature, the relationship between mental illness and social disease, the role of the unconscious, and the relevance of intercultural and interreligious pathways: All these themes reveal new and inspiring aspects of Hegel’s thought for our time.

In the introduction to The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir notes that "a man never begins by establishing himself as an individual of a certain sex: his being a man poses no problem." Nancy Bauer begins her book by asking: "Then what kind of a problem does being a woman pose?" Bauer's aim is to show that in answering this question The Second Sex dramatizes the extent to which being a woman poses a philosophical problem. In exploring what it might mean to philosophize as a woman, Beauvoir produced a book that not only sparked the contemporary feminist movement but also, Bauer argues, made an important but still profoundly undervalued contribution to the philosophical tradition.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the ways in which the relation between German Idealism and feminist philosophy has been explored. It demonstrates the significance of German Idealism for feminist philosophy, and simultaneously brings out the relevance of feminist readings and interpretations for a critical understanding of German Idealism. Key Features: • Presents original work on the German Idealists and considers their legacy within feminist thought from different philosophical perspectives. • Incorporates perspectives from queer theory, new materialism and critical philosophy of race, and so explores German Idealism through the subversion and transformation of meanings and conceptual arrangements. • Challenges the epistemic boundaries of philosophy by engaging the thought of women contemporary with the German Idealists such as Bettina von Arnim and Karoline von Günderrode. • Places the work of the German Idealists on gender, sexuality, marriage and family within the wider contexts of colonialism and European nation building. • Considers how several key concepts of German Idealism (such as subject, reason, enlightenment, autonomy and the sublime) have been central targets of feminist theory. • Includes a Black feminist critique of Kantian universalism. Fully reflecting the diversity that characterizes feminist thinking today, The Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism and Feminist Philosophy is essential reading for scholars and graduate students of German idealism, feminist philosophy and feminist theory. Chapter(s) “The Taxonomy of ‘Race’ and the Anthropology of Sex: Conceptual Determination and Social Presumption in Kant” is/are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.