Sally Haslanger
About
Philosopher, former Mindscape guest
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Claims by Sally Haslanger (20 of 29)
Two senses of social construction: causal and constitutive
Social construction has two distinct senses: causal construction, where social norms and beliefs play a causal role in shaping something (like a body shaped by gender norms about diet and appearance), and constitutive construction, where a category is defined in part by reference to social phenomena (like 'spouse', which just is standing in a social/legal relationship).
Socially constructed categories are real, not illusions
To say a category is socially constructed is not to say it is an illusion; socially constructed categories like 'spouse' are real and confer real social and legal powers, even though they are not natural categories existing in nature.
Gender is the social meaning of sex
Gender, as introduced by feminist historians, is the social meaning of sex: the same sex can carry very different social meanings, identities, and expectations across time and culture, which shows that what women 'naturally' are cannot be natural if it varies so tremendously.
Even sex is not a clean given binary
The sex binary is not simply given: there is a broad spectrum of bodies, intersex people, people who in different cultures count as neither category, and the very definition of sex is socially variable — so sex itself is partly socially categorized, complicating the simple sex/gender distinction.
Concepts are constructed but their referents may not be
All concepts are socially constructed because they come to us through language and social interaction, but the things those concepts correspond to in the world are not necessarily socially constructed — quarks may be the object of a constructed concept while the quark itself is not a construct.
Perceived threat persists from social meaning of bodies
In debates over safe spaces, a particular body type may not actually bring a threat, but it carries a social meaning of threat built up over history, so people can feel threatened even when there is no real threat — and they seek spaces safe from that feeling.
Reproductive difference must be addressed for justice
Ignoring differences in reproductive function would itself be a source of injustice, because fertile females play a substantially different role in reproduction, pregnancy has major social meaning, and sexual violence has different potential consequences for males and females, so these biological differences cannot simply be ignored in pursuing justice.
Massachusetts trans bathroom access showed no violence increase
When Massachusetts made gender identity more flexible so trans women could use women's restrooms, the trial period showed no increase in violence in restrooms and no formal complaints, so the policy was ratified to continue — illustrating that empirical evidence should guide such decisions.
Law alone cannot solve social problems
Changing the law is not a simple solution and is not enough: legal pressure can blow back, as with school integration after Brown v. Board where some districts shut down public schools and went private to avoid integrating, and racial segregation persists; just as merely changing language (Black to African-American) did not solve the underlying problem.
Justice via empirical experimentation, not armchair theory
Rather than reflecting from the armchair on how the world should be, addressing socially constructed inequities is better handled through social practice — trying things out, being good empiricists, and seeing what works, because imposing terms of coordination top-down often fails when not sensitive to people's needs and histories.
Philosophers should propose within social movements
The job of a philosopher is not to sit at a desk inventing new ways of thinking, but to make paradigm-shifting proposals responsive to problems that have emerged on the ground within a social movement, working with people there — while recognizing people will not change too far too fast.
Disruption without alternatives causes retreat
When you change a working system of coordination, things get worse before they get better, so you cannot just be a disruptor; you must offer a different alternative people can move toward, because without one they will be stuck or retreat — which partly explains current polarization as people back away from a frightening, unknown tipping point.
Small divisions of labor carry justice implications
Small differences in how we divide labor and organize time — such as who is always called to pick up a sick child — are not just matters of convenience but have justice implications, because if women are always the ones called away from work they are seen as less reliable and lose access to certain jobs, reducing their bargaining power.
Separate political theory from social theory
Political theory concerns the state and its power to enforce rights, but it leaves most of our lives untouched; social theory concerns how we live collectively in social practices, where ideal theory is ridiculous because you cannot design the perfect society — instead you must analyze existing practices to see who is advantaged and disadvantaged.
Ivory tower reasoning is poor at determining ends
Detached 'ivory tower' reasoning is legitimate and valuable for making distinctions and clarifying means, but it is not the best at helping us think about our ends, because understanding our ends must be grounded in our experience, history, form of life, and environment — so ends-reasoning that is not informed by what people on the ground value can go badly astray.
Academy undervalues diverse forms of intelligence
Intellectual life requires valuing many forms of contribution beyond reasoning and experimenting — social, emotional, and perceptual intelligences — which are often not well-appreciated in the academy; individuals should be allowed to bring these in, and we should recruit people who have the intelligences we lack.
Societies are complex systems no one controls
Social change is a long-term process that no one controls; societies are complex, dynamic systems with their own forces, like natural processes, so even discovering the correct answer for how change should happen will not make it happen — we can only do many small things with hope and humility.
Mill: we cannot know women's nature without equality
As Mill argued in The Subjection of Women, we have never treated women as equals or let them do what they wanted, always dictating their proper role, so there is no control case from which to claim evidence about what women naturally want or how they would best live — meaning good empiricists must step back and see what happens.
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