Marilyn Frye, 1997–1998 | National Humanities Center

Marilyn Frye (NHC Fellow, 1997–98)

Project Title

Categories and the Category of Women: A Philosophical Investigation

Michigan State University

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Fellowship Work Summary, 1997–98

Marilyn Frye engaged in research on "categories" with a view to developing a more satisfactory understanding of the structure of social categories, such as those of race and gender, than has been offered so far in works which presuppose the social construction of such categories—exploring the work of cognitive psychologists, linguists, and anthropologists, as well as philosophical theories of natural kinds. She completed an essay on the usefulness of treating the category of women as a family resemblance category, worked with a co‑editor on an anthology of papers on the work of philosopher Mary Daly, and completed five entries for an encyclopedia of feminist theory which is to be published by Routledge. She lectured at Duke University, Elon College, and Guilford College, and participated in a panel at the fall meeting of the Midwestern Division of the Society for Women in Philosophy.