Feminism and Freedom - Hardcover

Levin, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0887381251 ISBN 13: 9780887381256

Publisher: Routledge, 1987

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Levin is professor of philosphy at the City College of New York and the Graduate Center of City University of New York. He is the author of Metaphysics and the Mind-Body Problem, and has written extensively on ethics, epis-temology, and the foundations of science and mathematics.

Review:

"[Feminism and Freedom] is an astonishing achievement. . . . This is the one book that anyone even vaguely interested in the crucial ethical, political, and practical issues of sexual equality must read. . . . Levin has single-handedly raised the discussion of these issues to a new level. About the only thing one can say for certain about the future of scholarship in this area is that Levin'[s book will be the classic around which discussion will center." 

—Steven Goldberg

"Feminism and Freedom is comprehensive, well reasoned, forthright and provocative. A strong believer in the fair treatment of both sexes, Michael Levin challenges some of the assumptions of the militant feminist movement. His intelligent analysis is admirable, his courage awesome." 

—Sidney Hook 

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0887381251
• ISBN 13: 9780887381256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 490