An Exposition On Harding's Feminist Epistemology

In order to change the women's biased position in scientific research, feminist epistemology has been created and started intensely critiques to tradional epistemology and science.The feminists start to consider about some questions:why scientific knowledge excludes women?Is scientific knowledge objective?What is the foundition of the system of the scientific knowledge?Is it possible to construct the feminist science?The feminists have begun an argument about these questions fiercely.This thesis is going to participate in this argument by anaylsing Harding's epistemology apporaches detailedly,especially "strong objectivity" theory,clearing the mistakes that be easily made from the existing researches and pointing out the conflicts and disputes in her theory.This thesis has three sections.Firstly,the section one introuduces feminist standpoint epistemology clearly which is the ground of Harding's epistemological claims,from both the theoretical source of the standpoint epistemology and its main ideas.The section two is the central part of the whole article which is based on her original text.In the section two,I take the analysis,research and interpretion of "strong objectivity" theory of Harding very systematically and detailedly while describing how Harding takes the critiques to the value-neutrality ideal of old objectivity,distinguishes "weak objectivity" and "strong objectivity",and suggests new subjects of knowledge. All of these is inorder to eliminate some unnecessary misunderstandings of "strong objectivity" theory and take the original meanings back.Discussed by the previous two sections,we should have gotten a systematical deep understanding of Harding's epistemological claims,then in the section three I discuss the contributions and problems of Harding's epistemological thought and give my own reflections and critiques.The final part is my view about the relation between sex and science.Harding didn't construct an independent Feminist science.Her thought of epistemology and the concept of "strong objectivity" has gotten more contributions on the politics than on the epistemology,because her ultimate aim is to achieve the political purpose:the liberation of women in scientific research.