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The Many, the Wise, and the Marginalized: The Endoxic Method and The Second Sex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2020

Heather Lakey
Heather Lakey*
Affiliation:
College of the Atlantic, 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, Maine04609
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this article, I propose that Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex instantiates a version of the endoxic method, a philosophical strategy practiced originally by Aristotle. After summarizing the methodological principles and the philosophical benefits of Aristotle's method, I argue that Beauvoir improves upon Aristotle's endoxic practice through her heightened focus on the endoxa of minority groups, in this case women. Despite this improvement, Beauvoir replicates some of Aristotle's mistakes with her exclusive focus on the experiences of white French women. I address problems of epistemological bias that arise with the endoxic method, and I hypothesize strategies to manage these biases. I conclude that the endoxic method offers a promising resource for feminist philosophers if we retrofit the method to include an intersectional lens and a practice of epistemic humility. My reading of the endoxic method complements feminist scholarship that reads The Second Sex as a phenomenological investigation. Thus, I suggest that future research exploring the relationship between the endoxic method and phenomenology could generate important insights regarding feminist methodologies and social activism.

Type
Articles
Information
Hypatia , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , Spring 2020 , pp. 317 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © by Hypatia, Inc. 2020

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