The Lesbian Rule

Last week my wonderful friend S told me about The Lesbian Rule. Not what you’re thinking! And yet something of great philosophical interest, and with a name we should all be using! It was apparently a nifty device developed on Lesbos.

From Wikipedia (but trust it– S knows his Aristotle, and it’s just what he said!):

A lesbian rule was historically a flexible mason’s rule made of lead that could be bent to the curves of a molding, and used to measure or reproduce irregular curves.
The rule is alluded to by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics (bk V, ch. 10) as a metaphor for the importance of flexibility in equitable justice: “For what is itself indefinite can only be measured by an indefinite standard, like the leaden rule used by Lesbian builders; just as that rule is not rigid but can be bent to the shape of the stone, so a special ordinance is made to fit the circumstances of the case.”
In the 17th and early 18th centuries the term was often used figuratively (as Aristotle had used it) to mean a pliant, flexible and accommodating principle of judgement.

I plan to invoke a Lesbian Rule as often as I can, by name. (Even if– perhaps especially because– that is just what everyone expects a feminist head of department to do.) I also think it’s an interesting and potentially useful philosophical concept. (And yes, I know this has been discussed before under other names. But the other names AREN’T AS GOOD.)

Jennifer Saul on Philososphy Bites

“Are we more biased than we imagine? In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Jennifer Saul investigates a range of ways in which we are prone to implicit bias and the philosophical implications of these biases.”

Go have a listen. I plan to use it in my class to explain implicit bias.  Just terrific!

http://philosophybites.com/2013/12/jennifer-saul-on-implicit-bias.html

 

Wonderful Google doodle today

Google’s Grace Hopper doodle is a lovely way to draw attention to her contribution to computing! Go look!

Thanks SK.

A Feminist Kant

Feminist philosopher Carol Hay writes,

In general, are victims of oppression obligated to resist their oppression?

In short, yes. And the philosophical resources for this claim can be found in a somewhat surprising place: in the moral philosophy of the 18^th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant.

Now go read the rest over at The Stone, NYT.