A Comparative Evaluation of the Attitudes of Kant and Mill on Human Dignity and the Rights of Women

In connection with human dignity and rights of women, Kant and Mill retain a same viewpoint, i.e., they appretiate that women own intrinsically human values. They also reject instrumental usage of women, but in relation to women’s social and political rights, their ways are separated: Kant considers women as man’s property and passive citizens. He denies the social and political rights of women. Conversely, Mill defends women’s social and political rights on the bases of liberty and equality. So, Kant’s standpoints on human dignity of women on the one hand, and their social and political rights on the other, suffer from contradiction, while Mill’s thoughts are consistence in this context. One can understand the essence of difference between these two philosopher’s notions by using hermeneutic method (text and context). The controversy on women’s rights mainly emerges from effects of historical developments particularly economic, social and political affairs, within Kant’s and Mill’s thoughts.