Cornell Great Books Lecture: Dr. Mary Townsend on “Aporia on the Woman Question in Plato’s Republic

4:00 PM
Brian Mulroney Hall, Room 101

Dr. Mary Townsend will speak about “Aporia on the Woman Question in Plato’s Republic” as part of the Cornell Great Books Lecture on Thursday, November 17 at 4PM in BMH 101.

 “The Republic’s description of men and women who study philosophy and rule the state together is taken as the focal point for what Plato thought about “the woman question,” or what the role of women within the political community is or ought to be,” she says. “But opinion is divided on what Socrates’ description of this partnership is supposed to imply. Recovering a Socratic curiosity for the woman question allows us to consider the full strangeness of Socrates’ plans for men and women’s erōs in the Republic, and what it would mean for them to practice philosophy as partners in what Socrates calls ‘the common hunt.’”

Dr. Mary Townsend is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at St. John’s University, Queens, NY. She is the author of The Woman Question in Plato’s Republic (2017), and her writing on philosophy and culture has appeared in The Atlantic, The Hedgehog Review, Gawker, and The National Review.