Nancy Hartsock's "The Feminist Standpoint: Developing the Ground for a  Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism"

1. What do you think Hartsock means when, siding with Marx, she claims  that "socially mediated interaction with nature in the process of production shapes both human beings and theories of knowledge."?  Can you think of examples in your own life where repeated activities producing goods or services shaped your perspective? 

2. Do you agree with what she says next, that it is a false choice to characterize women as either "purely natural" or "purely social"?

3. Hartsock lists five distinct components of a standpoint theory.  Work through and think about each of these five from the perspective of 1) a worker in a capitalist system, and 2) a woman in a patriarchal system characterized by a sexual division of labor.

4. Hartsock believes that a women's contribution to both subsistence and to childrearing gives her certain insights that males lack. Identify some of these insights.  To what extent could one relate her ideas "care feminism"?

5.  Overall, according to Hartsock, what is a “feminist standpoint”? What criteria are used to establish one? How is this concept of a standpoint influenced by Marxist thought? How much are Marxist concepts required for the development of Hartsock’s concept of a feminist standpoint? 

6. For philosophy majors, in what ways does Hartsock’s materialist epistemology differ from analytic epistemology? What do you see as key strengths and weaknesses of each? 

7. In both the Engels and Hartsock readings, how much of a contribution does Marxist or socialist thought make to feminist thought in your view? Where do its weaknesses lie?