ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents a thematic intellectual history of how second wave feminist legal theory critiqued existing conceptions of the human subject, finding them based on male experiences while being presented as the "human" norm. It examines how some feminists looked for an inclusive human subject while others argue for a separate woman-centred subject and still others argue for the deconstruction of the subject. The book shows how feminists critiqued existing conceptions of the human subject to see if these conceptions included women; asking who the individual is at the heart of Western philosophy. It explains how they uncovered the paradigm of the human to be male. The book examines those feminists who began to question the standards by which moral subjectivity is judged. It deals with retaining normativity and active intentional subjects and their connection with individuals' freedom.
