Misogyny and Western Political Philosophers: An Analytical Study

Abstract

The tradition of political philosophy has been the greatest and oldest tradition to understand the origin of the family, society, and the state, which is clearly visible in the thoughts of Western philosophers, but in this tradition, misogyny has also been revealed. Western philosophers, from Socrates to John Rawls, have been pioneers in doing so. Western philosophical heritage rests largely on the notion of a natural inequality of the sexes. Women could not be included as equals within political philosophy until deeply held assumptions about the traditional family, its sexual roles, and its relation to the wider world of political society were challenged. This was only a major reason for the emergence of independent feminism. In the present study, therefore, an attempt is being made to find out the misogynistic ideas of western philosophers for which descriptive and analytical approach has been adopted. As a result, it is acknowledged that the misogyny of Western philosophers has been the only reason for the emergence and development of independent feminism because of which most feminists are still standing in line to counter this misogyny and to challenge their gendered interpretations to promote gender equality in the world.