A Humean Look at Feminist Ethics

Hume would have supported feminist scholarship, specifically in the area of ethical theory, primarily because the feminist notion that we learn through relationships and conversation with others is exactly what he describes as the best way to develop our moral sentiments and come to know ourselves and our world. Feminist conceptions of justice and care, the complex distinction between social construction and the development of what we understand ourselves to be in relation to others, are themes feminists have in common with Hume. As Hume explains, we learn and change in the company of others, not as victims of unchangeable social constructs, but as persons in community--as individuals relating to each other and developing, never statically defined.