Theories of Human Nature in Spinoza, Vasubandhu, and Feminism

Authors

  • Winnifred Tomm University of Calgary

Abstract

Both Spinoza and Vasubandhu provide accounts of human nature in which the emergence of human potential in any person depends upon facilitating interaction with others in which the person's potential is likewise facilitated. Centredness of self relies on receptiveness and responsiveness to those with whom one interacts so that one's reality is centred in the interactive process. Feminist ethics, described by reference to Nel Noddings, is grounded in a similar kind of theory of human nature, one in which the principle of connectedness overrides the principle of competition. The dialectic between feminist theories of human nature and those of Spinoza and Vasubandhu provides a connection between an ethics of caring and an ethics of principle.

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Published

1988-04-01

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (1988)

Section

Original Research

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