Statistics reveal that women who show aptitude for philosophy nevertheless abandon study or work in this field at markedly higher rates than men. They fall silent, as it were, when they might have been expected to go on speaking. Why? This paper explores the hypothesis that philosophical speech acts performed by women are systematically liable to turn out ‘unhappily’ due to the effect of unexamined, prejudical presuppositions that work to undermine their success. This approach to the silencing of women is adapted from the work of Rae Langton and Caroline West (1999) who draw upon J.L Austin’s theory of performative speech acts, and David Lewis’ analysis of language games. I also consider Judith Butler’s position on how best to combat injurious speech, and advocate an alternative approach inspired in part by the teaching of an early Buddhist nun.
Keywords
Language Games, Philosophy, Pornography, Silencing, Speech Act Theory, Women
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