HPS student Fafa Fazeli will be presenting her paper titled "Beyond the Tensions among Cognitive Values: Discussing a Case in the Philosophy of Biology" at the 10th Annual Midwest Graduate Research Symposium held at the University of Toledo. An abstract for her paper is provided below:
The notion of ‘true sex’ understood in terms of a female/male binary is neither scientifically well-grounded nor socially defensible. By defending Anne Fausto-Sterling’s proposal in her Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality (2000), I argue for the spectrum theory of sex. That is, human sex should not be understood in terms of male/female binary. Rather, it is better to be understood in terms of a spectrum of sexes that can be located between two extremes of male and female. Fausto-Sterling’s proposal has been criticized by traditional philosophers of science as well as activists and philosophers with social concerns. I shall argue that these concerns are either ill-grounded or can be addressed without any change in the spectrum theory of sex.
For more information about the Midwest Graduate Research Symposium, visit https://graduatestudentassociationblog.wordpress.com/mgrs/