The Female in Aristotle's Biology

While Aristotle's writings on biology are considered to be among his best, the comments he makes about females in these works are widely regarded as the nadir of his philosophical oeuvre. In The Female in Aristotle's Biology, Robert Mayhew aims not to defend Aristotle's ideas about females but to defend Aristotle against the common charge that his writings on animals were motivated by ideological bias. Mayhew points out that the tools of modern science and scientific experimentation were not available to the Greeks during Aristotle's time and that, consequently, Aristotle relied not only on empirical observations when writing about living organisms but also on a fair amount of speculation. Further, he argues that Aristotle's remarks about females in his biological writings did not tend to promote the inferior status of ancient Greek women. Written with passion and precision, The Female in Aristotle's Biology will be of enormous value to students of philosophy, the history of science, and classical literature.

ISBN 0226512002   Pages 128 ISBN13 9780226512006 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher The University of Chicago Press   Weight (grammes) 362 Imprint University of Chicago Press   Published in Chicago, IL Format Hardback   Height (mm) 238 Publication date 10 Sep 2004   Width (mm) 167 Library of Congress HQ1233.M35   Spine width (mm) 17 DEWEY 305.4   Academic level Professional / Scholarly DEWEY edition DC22

1		Aristotle and "ideology"		1
2		Entomology		19
3		Embryology		28
4		Eunuchs and women		54
5		Anatomy		69
6		The softer and less spirited sex		92
7		Aristotle on females : an assessment of the biology		114

"Mayhew's main treatment is divided under five headings: entomology, embryology, eunuchs and women, anatomy, and 'the softer and less spirited sex.' . . . Mayhew's account is in general careful and informed by close reading of the actual texts. . . . It vindicates Aristotle (to a large extent: Mayhew allows that occasionally Aristotle may have been guilty of a careless reliance on chauvinistic "idees recues") of the charges of misogynistic rationalization."--R. J./i>--R. J. Hankinson "Isis "

 Be the first to write a customer review