Sofia and the new woman. Issues of gender dialectic in Krause

Abstract

In this text, the author develops two elements of the philosophical thought of Karl F. Krause (Germany, 1781-1832). In the first place, his proposal for an open and dual dialectic, a respectful one of the individual and opposed to the hegelian dialectic and its historical determinism. This has direct implications in the direction that adopt the revolutionary movements: democratic or, on the contrary, authoritarian. Secondly, the author explains the thought of Krause about women and its role in society, emphasizing his progressive and libertarian ideas «avant le lettre», respectful of what today would be an identity of gender and opposed to the predominant prejudices of his time. Its critic aims at liberalism and the revolutionary left in those years, who excluded women from the public space, education and politics. The critic is specially centered in the pedagogical conceptions of Rousseau in his classic text, Emile.