WHERE THE �BIGOTS LIVE
Sam Berstler (MIT)
wogap
10 march 2022
email me:
sam.a.berstler@gmail.com
download the paper:
samberstler.com/research/
WHO ARE THE SEXISTS AND MISOGYNISTS?
TL;DR
the conduit view
sexism & misogyny are structures 🡪 sexists and misogynists are the people who perpetuate the sexist and misogynist structures
my view
sexism & misogyny are structures 🡪 sexists and misogynists are the bigots
IN FAVOR OF THE TRADITIONAL VIEW
we should expect patriarchy to engender a certain complex of attitudes, and we should talk about it
we use attitude-talk to make people intelligible to us
someone with this complex of attitudes is morally impaired: he cannot have a healthy moral relationship with women
TL;DR ARGUMENT AGAINST THE CONDUIT VIEW
the conduit view makes it hard to talk about this stuff
And it also shrinks the theoretical work misogynists and sexists can do for us.
SOME PRO-CONDUIT THEORY, ANTI-TRADITIONAL ARGUMENTS THAT I CONSIDER (AND REJECT)
Objection. There’s room for both the conduit and traditional notion.
Response. I’m fine with that. But the conduit theorist usually tries to eliminate the traditional notion.
Objection. The conduit theorist can still explain actions by appeal to misogynistic attitudes.
Response. This is a trick of grammar.
Objection. Traditional bigotry is a mere individual quirk.
Response. The structure explains the bigotry. (But we do not define the bigotry in terms of the structure.)
Objection. The structural thesis predicts that most men don’t hate most women and so aren’t misogynists as traditionally defined.
Response. This is a naive understanding of the way woman-hating operates under patriarchy.
Objection. The traditionalist must say that misandrists exist in our current world.
Response. Not if we are content externalists.
Objection. Attitudes are inscrutable.
Response. Attitudes are not inscrutable.
Q&A.
samberstler.com/research/