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Feminism and Freedom
Combining philosophical rigor with detailed knowledge of a wide range of subjects, Michael Levin presents a thorough examination of feminism as both a theory and as a generator of social policy. His book provides a much-needed counterweight to uncritical feminist scholarship prevalent in so much social science writing.
Levin argues that feminists deny that innate sex differences have anything to do with the basic structure of society. He shows how this denial leads feminists to interpret observable differences between male and female roles as the result of discrimination and restrictive social conditioning rather than as the free expression of basic preferences. Levin concludes that feminist proposals for remedying this imaginary oppression systematically thwart individual liberty.
The first chapters of Feminism and Freedom show the conflict between feminist ideology and recent developments in anthropology, neurology, child psychology and behavioral genetics, as well as basic principles of scientific method. The author then moves to a wide-ranging discussion of affirmative action, comparable worth, and the impact of feminism on education, military manpower policy, language, family life and sports--showing in each case how feminist policies run counter to classical liberalism. Written in a lively, challenging, and accessible style, as controversial as it is timely, Feminism and Freedom is must reading for anyone interested in understanding society and preserving liberty.
Levin argues that feminists deny that innate sex differences have anything to do with the basic structure of society. He shows how this denial leads feminists to interpret observable differences between male and female roles as the result of discrimination and restrictive social conditioning rather than as the free expression of basic preferences. Levin concludes that feminist proposals for remedying this imaginary oppression systematically thwart individual liberty.
The first chapters of Feminism and Freedom show the conflict between feminist ideology and recent developments in anthropology, neurology, child psychology and behavioral genetics, as well as basic principles of scientific method. The author then moves to a wide-ranging discussion of affirmative action, comparable worth, and the impact of feminism on education, military manpower policy, language, family life and sports--showing in each case how feminist policies run counter to classical liberalism. Written in a lively, challenging, and accessible style, as controversial as it is timely, Feminism and Freedom is must reading for anyone interested in understanding society and preserving liberty.
490 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
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About the author
Michael Levin
182 books22 followersMichael Levin is Professor of Philosophy, City College of New York.
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July 29, 2019
Despite what googling his name might lead you to think, Michael Levin is a very competent philosopher. This work befits what one might expect from a person worthy of that epithet. His only flaws, those that seem to have raised the ire of his numerous critics, appear to be his tendency not to mince words and his willingness to subject even the most sacred of cows to critical examination. These are virtues in my book.
The sacred cow that is the object of Levin's attack in this book is feminism. Bear in mind that this book was published in 1987. Feminism has since grown much more popular than it was when Levin published his book and established itself as an ordinary commitment of all decent human beings in enlightened societies. Whatever its substantive content, one had better at least be willing to pay lip-service to the idea that feminism is somehow "basically a good thing" and denounce the brutes who dare criticize it, often conflating a critical position of feminism with hatred of women. This is why Levin's book is arguably more important now than it was at the time of its publishing. Levin diagnoses feminism's basic error as an instance of what Steven Pinker would later call "the modern denial of human nature", to wit, the belief that human beings are born "tabula rasa", or, as blank slates whose content is the result of socialization mechanisms. Chairman Mao said that it is on blank slates that the most beautiful poems are written. But what if encounter some less-than-beautiful or downright ugly poems? In that case, we would like to have a word with the author, which is society in our case. For if there are no meaningful biological differences between men and women, yet there are meaningful differences in the roles they occupy in society (in many cases, but by no means in all of them, seemingly to the determent of women), this discrepancy can only be the result of nefarious oppression that women are subjected to via an inegalitarian socialization process that is biased against them. Say "Hello" to the Patriarchy. This is plausibly what motivates the tendency to note that women are underrepresented in a certain field and erroneously conclude therefrom that bias, discrimination and oppression must permeate the field in question, which then leads to popular yet by no means sound remedies and cures.
I have my disagreements with Levin. For example, his view of abortion is much more negative than mine. But, all in all, such disagreements pale in comparison to the importance of such a work, especially in our time. I highly recommend looking past the scurrilous accusations made against him and giving Levin a fair read.
The sacred cow that is the object of Levin's attack in this book is feminism. Bear in mind that this book was published in 1987. Feminism has since grown much more popular than it was when Levin published his book and established itself as an ordinary commitment of all decent human beings in enlightened societies. Whatever its substantive content, one had better at least be willing to pay lip-service to the idea that feminism is somehow "basically a good thing" and denounce the brutes who dare criticize it, often conflating a critical position of feminism with hatred of women. This is why Levin's book is arguably more important now than it was at the time of its publishing. Levin diagnoses feminism's basic error as an instance of what Steven Pinker would later call "the modern denial of human nature", to wit, the belief that human beings are born "tabula rasa", or, as blank slates whose content is the result of socialization mechanisms. Chairman Mao said that it is on blank slates that the most beautiful poems are written. But what if encounter some less-than-beautiful or downright ugly poems? In that case, we would like to have a word with the author, which is society in our case. For if there are no meaningful biological differences between men and women, yet there are meaningful differences in the roles they occupy in society (in many cases, but by no means in all of them, seemingly to the determent of women), this discrepancy can only be the result of nefarious oppression that women are subjected to via an inegalitarian socialization process that is biased against them. Say "Hello" to the Patriarchy. This is plausibly what motivates the tendency to note that women are underrepresented in a certain field and erroneously conclude therefrom that bias, discrimination and oppression must permeate the field in question, which then leads to popular yet by no means sound remedies and cures.
I have my disagreements with Levin. For example, his view of abortion is much more negative than mine. But, all in all, such disagreements pale in comparison to the importance of such a work, especially in our time. I highly recommend looking past the scurrilous accusations made against him and giving Levin a fair read.
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