Feminist Interpretations of Hegel

histoire et enjeux de la réinterprétation d'un canon philosophique

Abstract

This article retraces the history of feminist receptions of Hegel in the 20th century, and proposes a critical updating of Hegel's philosophy in the light of feminist issues. The history of these receptions requires us to distinguish the reading of Hegel made by the feminists (Beauvoir, Lonzi, Irigaray) from the feminist reading of Hegel as such, which corresponds to the birth of a new field of investigation within Hegelian studies from the 1980s and 1990s in the USA. From this new field of study, it is possible to propose a critical updating of Hegelian theory from a feminist perspective. The article argues that, while Hegel was wrong to limit women to their domestic role and to make love marriage the highest aspiration of their existence, his actuality nevertheless lies in the possibility of understanding feminist struggles as struggles for recognition.