Born in 1648 in Paris, Francois Poullain de la Barre (1647-1723) was the third child of a wealthy Catholic family. Normally, he would step on the path of working in the church, but Poullain chose to pursue his philosophical interest. There were not many of his works left, but we can learn his main thoughts from the three most well-known treatises. De l’égalité des deux sexes [On the Equality of the Two Sexes] (1673), De l’éducation des dames [On the Education of Ladies] (1674) and De l’excellence des hommes [On the Excellence of Men] (1675).
In early modern Europe, there was a common stereotype towards the two sexes. Most people at that time believed that men’s bodies were hot and dry while women’s bodies were cold and moist. Due to this difference in body qualities, dispositions were also different. A typical description of women’s dispositions was weak, fearful, jealous, distrustful, flatter, lie, ungrateful, superstitious, and impatient. However, descriptions for men were courageous, liberal, and sincere. This sharp contrast demonstrates women were always viewed with prejudices.
However, in the seventeenth century, many philosophers argued in favor of gender equality. Poulain was one of the philosophers and he was greatly influenced by Rene Descartes’s method of doubt and right reasoning. In Meditations, Descartes doubts as many beliefs as possible and therefore finds an indisputable belief as a solid foundation. Then, Descartes builds other beliefs on top of that foundation. From his perspective, a solid foundation is necessary for pursuing true knowledge. A typical analogy Descartes raised was the old building analogy. Descartes claims that it was better to demolish an old house on a weak foundation and construct a new building than try to repair the old one piece by piece. Poulain adopted a similar method of arguments and argues for equality between two sexes, especially the equality of two sexes’ minds.
Bibliography
Broad, Jacqueline Sonia. “Early modern feminism and Cartesian philosophy.” The Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy. Routledge, 2017. 71-81.
Reuter, Martina, “François Poulain de la Barre”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2019/entries/francois-barre/>.
home
introduction
biography
philosophy position
comparison
closing argument
bibliography