Is Philosophy Just For Aristocratic Men?
Of course, even if a culture is literate and has a tradition of academic philosophy, it may still systematically exclude some of its members from participation in the tradition; for example, in ancient Greece and Rome, only aristocrats could read and write. In India, only upper-caste Brahmins could be members of the priesthood, and thus privy to the more esoteric speculations. After the Upanishad period (800-500 BCE), Indian women were subjugated by the laws of Manu, and no longer seen as fit for education. The laws of Manu are the orthodox Hindu code to this day. They specify that “a woman is never fit for independence”, and that “a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife” even if the husband is “destitute of virtue or seeking pleasure (elsewhere) or devoid of good qualities”. Hinduism still adheres to the notion that it is pretty low to be reborn as a woman. Even today, in much of the Third World, women are excluded from education altogether, or excluded fro
