Sandra Harding

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Western Philosophy 20th century philosophy
Name:	Sandra Harding
Birth:	1935
School/tradition:	Feminist philosophy, Post-colonialism
Main interests:	Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Standpoint theory
Notable ideas:	Strong Objectivity

Sandra Harding (born 1935), is an American philosopher of feminist and postcolonial theory, epistemology, research methodology and philosophy of science. She has contributed to standpoint theory and to the multicultural study of science. She gained some notoriety for referring to Newton's Laws as a "rape manual" (Harding: 1986, pg. 264). The full quote is:

"Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica is a 'rape manual' because 'science is a male rape of female nature'."

This reflects the view that science is a perpetuation of patriarchal hegemony, and that it is indelibly imbued with masculine value systems and worldviews, both of which form an integral part of standpoint theory. This is closely linked to cultural relativism, in which there is no singular claim to knowledge but instead many different cultures each with their own equally valuable ability to contribute to the knowledge system. Standpoint theory also hopes to contribute in this same manner, women have their unique perspective on knowledge which has long been ignored and which would contribute to a better understanding of the world.

She is currently a professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and the Director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Harding previously taught at the University of Delaware for many years. She earned her PhD from New York University (NYU).

She has been part of an on-going debate regarding claims of scientific objectivity. Critiques of her work have been made by scientists Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt in Higher Superstition.

[edit] Bibliography

Harding, Sandra and Merrill B. Hintikka, ed. Discovering Reality: Feminist Perspectives on Epistemology, Metaphysics, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science. 1983.
Harding, Sandra. The Science Question in Feminism. 1986.
Harding, Sandra and Jean F. O'Barr, ed. Sex and Scientific Inquiry. 1987.
Harding, Sandra. Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?: Thinking from Women's Lives. 1991.
Harding, Sandra. "Science is 'Good to Think With,'" Social Text 46-47, (1996): 15-26.