A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Essay Example

Philosophy Paper

The search for knowledge has been an implicit objective for human beings through time immemorial. The main goal of the search is the discovery of the unknown, which in many cases develops from the contents of what is known. A question, however, arises on the process or procedure of realizing what people do not know concerning themselves or others. The key to discovery on any ground is through socialization primarily through education. Conventionally, socialization, whether based on education or otherwise, is segregated by privilege societally appropriated. The customary discriminative aspect of power is signified through wealth, intellectuality or gender.

Definition of Knowledge

Plato, a philosopher, defined knowledge distinctly as the “justified true belief”; however, conceptually and logistically his definition is flawed. The erroneous description stems from the fact that knowledge is communicated and passed down through generations and the justification or truth behind the belief often diminishes. With time knowledge gain remains for the sole purpose of gaining motive rather than justified belief in the concepts. Socrates, on the other hand, believed that knowledge is truth or idea with a universal appeal. Socrates definition is much more logical and acceptable since he found the concept appealing to most people rather than justified universally.

Knowing What We Need to Know

The key to self-discovery and the realization of other people’s personalities and traits is through socialization. At a young age after primary growth, the conventional mode of socialization is through education. According to Mary Wollstonecraft, independent thinking in children is only possible through interactions among themselves. According to Mary, the development of benumbing indolence of a child’s mind is inevitable; with time, he or she will begin to seek reliance on information that stems from other sources other than their primary caregivers (Wollstonecraft, 1891). Additionally, the interactions are never limited by fear of judgments, and therefore self-discovery and realization of other people’s behavior are very natural.

Power and Privilege Intersection through Education

There is a significant correlation between power, privilege and the definition of knowledge. Taking Socrates’ definition of knowledge; it is a truth or concept with a universal appeal, learning concepts depend significantly on society’s perception. A vital customary example of the integration of power and privilege into knowledge is through gender discrimination. The male gender conventionally was given more power and privilege in knowledge gain depending on the contents of what the society perceived as the role of each.

Power and Privilege Intersection through Education in Gender Bias

According to Jane Rolland Martin in his analysis on sex bias in Rousseau’s philosophy on Sophie and Emilie, knowledge gain through education was based on conventional outlooks. Rousseau’s philosophy advocated for belief in naturalism; according to him, the role of education was the development of inborn aptitudes and talents. However, in his description of Sophie, Emilie’s intended, he focuses more on traits acquired through training or practices (Martin, 1981). In a particular instance, he states that Sophie should gain knowledge to learn how to perform her duties as a woman; which implied wifely and domestic obligations to her husband. In this case, knowledge is affected by privilege and power of the male gender as opposed to the opposite sex.

Power and Privilege Intersection through Education Systems

Mary Wollstonecraft defines the relationship between the definition of knowledge, power and privilege through assessing the difference between public and private schools. Knowledge or learning does not solely constitute literal studies but also the traits learnt. Conventionally, people perceive private schools students as being more privileged in comparison to those that attend public schools. Considering the fact that most private schools are boarding the knowledge gained behaviorally would vary considerably with those from public schools, especially day schools (Wollstonecraft, 1891). In contrasting the two cases, Mary defines the behavior of those from boarding schools as being more morally distorted due to nurturing in a tyrannical environment.

Power and Privilege Intersection through Education in Intellectuality

Jean Jacques Rousseau, in his assessment, advocated for naturalism in education or knowledge gain as a learning process. The idea was initially introduced by both Plato and Aristotle, who were both philosophers at different capacities.  According to him, education should encompass development based on aptitudes or talents acquired from birth. The possession of abilities considered more prominent or superior to others is associated with power and privilege. Although in Rousseau’s description, he contends with the idea in describing Emilie based on sexual bias, he advocates for naturalism (Rousseau, 1892). The theory disadvantages those that may appear to have less desired traits and abilities. Even with the implementation of the production model, in many cases, the talents developed through training build on the foundation of inborn-capabilities. Whatever the choice for implementation of knowledge, it remains privileged based on intellectual power.

Conclusion

Mary’s proposition of an unbiased and unprivileged education system based on gender bias was the best. She insisted on coeducational implementations for both genders to avoid any biases. However, looking into the aspects proposed by Jean Jacques Rousseau, education structures as knowledge systems will also remain biased and privileged based on intellectual power. Although not all developments of skills stem from birth traits and abilities, a significant percentage of capabilities have inborn roots. Arguably, the development of a knowledge system that is not corrupted by privilege and power is almost impossible due to diversity in innate abilities.

References

Martin, J. R. (1981). Sophie and Emile: A case study of sex bias in the history of educational thought. Harvard educational review, 51(3), 357-372. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.51.3.p814021448113257

Rousseau, J. J. (1892). Rousseau’s Émile: or, Treatise on education (Vol. 20). D. Appleton.

Wollstonecraft, M. (1891). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, with Strictures on Political and Moral Subject. T. Fisher.