Aristotle on women's virtues

Connell, Sophia (2024) Aristotle on women's virtues. In: Brill, S. and McKeen, C. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Women and Ancient Greek Philosophy. New York, U.S.: Routledge, pp. 388-405. ISBN 9780367498719.

Abstract

On the basis of Aristotle’s writings, this chapter will argue that the differences between the virtues of men and those of women do not show ethical weaknesses in women However, there are ways that women, due to biology or politics or both, can never, for Aristotle, reach the same level of virtuousness as their male peers. The two sexes operate in differently valued realms - men run cities; women run households. While this limits women’s political involvement, it does not render them incapable of virtue; on the contrary, the bad fortune of being born a woman is to be mitigated by the central importance to the community of their characters. For Aristotle, without virtuous women, the city would fail to flourish. However, there are still reasons to disparage his attitude; given his views about political organization and the position of the household, women’s virtues will find expression privately rather than publicly. He explicitly values the public and political realm, the realm of men, above that of the home, even though the former depends on the good functioning of the latter.

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