Feminist philosophy book launched

JAKARTA: University of Indonesia lecturer Gadis Arivia launched on Wednesday a book titled Filsafat Berperspektif Feminist (Philosophy with Feminist Perspective).

The launch of the book, which was based on the author's doctoral dissertation research at the university, was marked with a discussion featuring scholars Franz Magnis Suseno, Nurcholish Madjid and Nori Andriyani.

In her 335-page book, Gadis showed that so far philosophy was dominated by male philosophers, some of whom, including Jean-Paul Sartre and Frederick Nietzsche, underestimated women.

Gadis, who is also a cofounder of Jurnal Perempuan Foundation, said that many female philosophers such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir were never taken into account.

Magnis, of the Diryarkara School of Philosophy, praised the book, admitting that he had not included a female philosopher in his books.

"But in my next book on moral philosophy, I will include a female philosopher, Iris Murdoch. But it's not because she was a woman but because of her thoughts," he said. --JP