Friday, December 28, 2018

What was John Locke’s view of the education of women?

Locke's views on women's education, indeed his views on women in general, were remarkably enlightened for the time. In his Second Treatise of Government Locke criticized the political theory of Robert Filmer, which justified absolute monarchy on biblical grounds, and stated that the authority of kings was the same as that of fathers over their wives and children. In counter to this, Locke avers that the authority that fathers have is temporary, not permanent. Furthermore, he adds that parental authority is shared between men and women.
Locke holds that women are possessed with the same capacity for rational behavior as men. As such, Locke advocated what we now call "no-fault" divorces, based on individual choice. It's hard to underestimate just how radical this concept was in the late 17th century, especially as such divorces did not become available in the United States and Europe until the mid-20th century.
Locke's radical views of women's rationality and autonomy feed into his pedagogical theories. In his Some Thoughts on Education Locke argues that girls should receive the same education as boys, with some minor differences. The chief aim of education for Locke is the inculcation of virtue, a quality which is as important for girls as it is for boys. Locke also argues against children of either sex being sent to school; they should receive their education at home.
At the time that Locke wrote Some Thoughts on Education such schooling as was available for girls took place within the home. In advocating home schooling Locke was essentially arguing that boys should be educated in the same way that girls already were. The implications of such a theory are quite radical. The home and hearth would no longer be seen as the unique province of women; by extension, the public world would be more freely accessible to both sexes, instead of solely men.
https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/feminist-interpretations-of-john-locke/

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