Vita activa and vita contemplativa: History and the World Encompassed by Feminist Philosophy

This paper reconsiders, in general outlines, the world and history from the perspective of feminist theory. The first part gives a general context of some of the major problems of feminism. It serves as a foundation for the second part of the paper where philosophy confronts feminism, i.e. it is an introduction to the basics of feminist philosophy. Framework for the research in this paper is Hannah Arendt's concept of human activity. Through concepts of labour, work, and action is presented the oppression of women and ways of struggles against this oppression. Further, using terms that denote the fundamental preconditions of these activities (life, world, and plurality) a general picture of feminist philosophy is given. Throughout the paper is considered a relation between vita activa and vita contemplativa, because they are inevitably intertwined in feminism and open new question in philosophy as well.