Neurofeminism: Issues at the Intersection of Feminist Theory and Cognitive Science (New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science)

Going beyond the hype of recent fMRI 'findings', thisinterdisciplinary collection examines such questions as: Do women and men have significantly different brains? Do women empathize, while men systematize? Is there a 'feminine' ethics? What does brain research on intersex conditions tell us about sex and gender? This is the first interdisciplinary collection of essays to address how recent neuroscience affects traditional feminist issues. A distinguished group of philosophers, psychologists, sociomedical scientists, and feminist scholars explore such questions as: * Do women and men have significantly different brains? * Do women empathize, while men systematize? * Is there a distinctive 'feminine' ethics? * Is the self constituted by brain activities independent of society? * Should addressing issues about sexuality and intersex conditions lead to changes in methodology? * What do recent technological advances in the brain sciences teach us about such questions? Taken together, these essays challenge and expand upon some of the more sensational findings of neuroscience, and suggest new strategies and topics for research Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-10 The Politics of Pictured Reality: Locating the Object from Nowhere in fMRI....Pages 11-29 What, If Anything, Can Neuroscience Tell Us About Gender Differences?....Pages 30-55 In a Different Voice?....Pages 56-72 The Role of Fetal Testosterone in the Development of the “Essential Difference” Between the Sexes: Some Essential Issues....Pages 73-104 Hardwired for Sexism? Approaches to Sex/Gender in Neuroscience....Pages 105-120 Re-Queering the Brain....Pages 121-144 Situated Neuroscience: Exploring Biologies of Diversity....Pages 145-174 Cosmopolitics and the Brain: The Co-Becoming of Practices in Feminism and Neuroscience....Pages 175-192 Linking Neuroscience, Medicine, Gender and Society through Controversy and Conflict Analysis: A “Dissensus Framework” for Feminist/Queer Brain Science Studies....Pages 193-215 Seeing as a Social Phenomenon: Feminist Theory and the Cognitive Sciences....Pages 216-229 Beyond Neurosexism: Is It Possible to Defend the Female Brain?....Pages 230-245 Back Matter....Pages 246-284 This is the first interdisciplinary collection of essays to address how recent neuroscience affects traditional feminist issues. A distinguished group of philosophers, psychologists, sociomedical scientists, and feminist scholars explore such questions as: a- Do women and men have significantly different brains? b- Do women empathize, while men systematize? c- Is there a distinctive 'feminine' ethics? d- Is the self constituted by brain activities independent of society? e- Should addressing issues about sexuality and intersex conditions lead to changes in methodology? f- What do recent technological advances in the brain sciences teach us about such questions? Taken together, these essays challenge and expand upon some of the more sensational findings of neuroscience, and suggest new strategies and topics for research "Going beyond the hype of recent fMRI "findings," this interdisciplinary collection examines such questions as: Do women and men have significantly different brains? Do women empathize, while men systematize? Is there a "feminine" ethics? What does brain research on intersex conditions tell us about sex and gender?"--Pub. desc