Deciding to ask the hard questions while I had these two people, of different views, together. The question I decided to find the answer to was one of why it is ok for men to do the same sinful act as a women, yet the man doesn't lose his reputation. In all truthfulness he is rewarded for such acts. Mary stated that " If an innocent girl become a prey to love, she is degraded forever, though her mind was not polluted by the arts which married women, under the convenient cloud of marriage, practise; nor has she violated and duty--but the duty of respecting herself." (Wollstonecraft, 1972) David then has the rebuttal of "But with regard to the present subject, there are some considerations which seem to remove all this accusation of arrogance or suspicion of mistake." (Hume, 1748). At this point they start to bicker over the rights of women or should I say the lack there of where Hume is concerned. Hume feels that the man is right and is the best creature on earth, where Mary feels that it is the opposite as women are the ones that take care of the house. So as I leave they are still there but now it has gotten to be words of anger directed below the belt. Hume's position will never change and Mary is still fighting for the rights of women.
References:
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. (1748)
Reviewed material http://infidels.org/library/hitorical/david_hume/human_understanding.html
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. (1792)http://www.barteby.com/144/
Monday, October 22, 2007
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1 comment:
Hume may have written of "mankind" or "man's nature" but the writing convention of the time was to address all humanity as mankind. It has only been the convention of the last 2 decades, or so, to see the sexism in this language.
That being said, what I've read of Hume's work would not lead me to the conclusion that he saw vast differences in the intelligence or abilities of the two sexes.
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