ABSTRACT
This chapter philosophically evaluates Gandhi's role in the emancipation of Indian women, locating his arguments in the damaging context of the critique made by Madhu Kishwar and Sujata Patel. In this context, the chapter refers to arguments in care ethics (a feminist philosophical perspective) which identify the need for an alternative approach to ethics incorporating sensitivity to the moral experiences of women, albeit that these are most often the product of the ‘unchosen nature of responsibilities’. It will be argued that Gandhi's ethics philosophically anticipated and responded to such concerns even before feminist writers had articulated them. The chapter suggests then that despite critique, Gandhian ethics might still present a positive moment for women writers engaged in the critical intellectual exercise of looking at gender bias in philosophical theory.
