Materialism as an Antidote for Ontological Subterfuges: "Against Philosophers: Which Is the Difference Between a Woman and a Cat?"

Abstract

This critical review offers a brief outline of the main arguments in the latest essay by Mercè Rius to be published, Against Philosophers: Which Is the Difference Between a Woman and a Cat? The author develops, from a historical and philosophical perspective, the political background supporting the exclusive universalism reigning within the philosophical discourses from Platonic and Aristotelian metaphysics to our current political reality, arguing for the bio-political nature of the putative justifications of misogynistic positions against women throughout Western history. At the same time, she offers a materialist point of view that highlights the political assumptions that reveal the exclusionary logic at the core of the history of philosophy.