THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL CULTURE OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY’S CURRICULUM: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL MOVE TOWARD CONCEIVING A HOLISTIC AND INCLUSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL CULTURE OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY’S CURRICULUM: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL MOVE TOWARD CONCEIVING A HOLISTIC AND INCLUSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF

Summary/Abstract: This study explores the epistemological culture of the Western philosophy curriculum. Is it the case that female students are immersed in a curriculum that privileges male-centered values, despite claims to equality, equity, and justice? Herein, I focus on academic discourse in relation to identity, gender, and ways of thinking and reasoning that emerge from Western philosophy, a discourse that is said to devalue and exclude certain forms of knowledge, which might be linked to ways of thinking and feeling associated with women. This study examines one possible way to potentially address this destructive trend in education by considering alternative media and forms of pedagogy, which might enhance the educational experience for all students, both male and female. As in van Manen’s (1990) phenomenological method for action sensitive pedagogy, I asked female students to generate phenomenological “texts,” through interviews and protocol writing, from which “themes” were drawn for analysis and interpretation – thus uniting the qualitative practices of phenomenology and hermeneutics.

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