Dr Jingyi Wu

This course is available on the MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy, MSc in Philosophy of Economics and the Social Sciences and MSc in Philosophy of Science. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Gender, race, class, sexualities, etc. are messy and difficult concepts. They are part of the fabric against which we come to form beliefs, attitudes, dispositions, and feelings about the world. They matter in our lives, even when we do not want or expect them to be. In this half-unit, we will utilize philosophical tools to analyze how gender, race, and other social categories have shaped our lives, and how they can shape our future. We will also think about how gender and race have shaped philosophy as a discipline, and how they can shape the future of philosophy.

Topics covered may include:

Gender and Biology: How does “gender” relate to “sex”? Is our concept of biological “sex” objective, and free from gender stereotypes and norms? Is our sex fixed or changeable? 

Gender and Society: Is gender a matter of internal identity, or is it an externally-imposed social class? How does sexism intersect with other oppressions, like racism and transphobia?

Race and Society: How does the social meaning of “race” vary around the world? Should we try to reconcile “ordinary” conceptions of “race” with technical conceptions of “race”? How should we understand the directionality and limits of racial classification?

The Future of Gender and Race: Will race and gender still exist in the future? Should we try to work for a race-free and gender-free world, or should these ways of classifying people be preserved?

We will focus on approaches to these questions from “analytic” philosophy, including feminist and race-critical approaches and approaches from the philosophy of science. The aim is to confront the big questions of gender and race by analysing and constructing careful and precise philosophical arguments.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the WT.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6 of WT.

Students will be expected to produce 2 pieces of coursework in the WT.

Students will be expected to present and/or lead at least one seminar discussion in the Winter Term.

Students will have the opportunity to receive feedback on their summative essay plan.

Other formative activities may be introduced.

Suggested introductory reading:

• Fausto-Sterling, 2000 [2020 New Edition]. Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality.
• Crenshaw, K., 1989. Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.
• Haslanger [2000] “Gender and Race, (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them To Be.”
• Appiah, Kwame Anthony, 2005. The Ethics of Identity.
• Mills, Charles, 2007.  "White ignorance"
• Glasgow, J., Haslanger, S., Jeffers, C. and Spencer, Q., 2019. What is Race?
• Zack, Naomi, 1993. Race and Mixed-Race. Morality of Race.

Project (85%, 2000 words) in the ST.
Class participation (10%) and other (5%) in the WT.

Details of Summative Assessment:

Essay (2000 words), or instructor-approved final project of comparable length and effort (85%) in the Spring Term.

Self-evaluated participation (10%) in the Winter Term.

Weekly discussion forum postings (5%) in the Winter Term.

There is no exam for this half-unit.