ABSTRACT
Having mentioned essentialism and the fiery debates it triggers, the author says more about the educational philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Feminist philosophers of science have shown that the group biases of scientists have included a masculinist ideology that objectifies its human subjects and genderizes nature. Feminist philosophers of science, ethics, epistemology, and theology all face a thorny problem. Some feminists concentrate on the liberal agenda and what it should mean for women's rights and justice. Some work from a socialist position and focus on oppression and relief from oppression; these theorists are concerned with racism and classism as well as matters of gender. Some feminists have raised a concern that an ethic of care might contribute to the continued exploitation of women. In this chapter the author thinks the ethic of care has something in common with the ethics of alterity described by Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas. The ethic of care approaches the other in a similar fashion.
