Who’s to Blame?
- The main aim of this paper is to investigate how sexist ideology distorts our conceptions of sexual violence and the hermeneutical gaps such an ideology yields. I propose that we can understand the problematic issue of hermeneutical gaps about sexual violence with the help of Fricker’s theory of hermeneutical injustice. By distinguishing between hermeneutical injustice and hermeneutical misfire, we can distinguish between the hermeneutical gap and its consequences for the victim of sexual violence and those of the perpetrator of such violence. I then argue that perpetrators are both morally responsible and accountable for their acts, even if they are the result of a hermeneutical misfire. Ultimately, I show that with regard to sexual violence, we should opt for accountability to change the behaviour of the perpetrator and the social structure. Content warning: The paper discusses sexual violence and difficulties conceptualising experiences of such violence.
Author details: | Hilkje Charlotte HänelORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2020.1839591 |
Title of parent work (English): | Social Epistemology |
Subtitle (English): | Hermeneutical Misfire, Forward-Looking Responsibility, and Collective Accountability |
Publisher: | Routledge |
Place of publishing: | London |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2020/11/08 |
Publication year: | 2020 |
Release date: | 2022/09/22 |
Tag: | Sexist ideology; accountability; blame; hermeneutical injustice; hermeneutical misfire; moral responsibility |
Volume: | 35 |
Issue: | 2 |
First page: | 173 |
Last Page: | 184 |
Organizational units: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Sozialwissenschaften / Fachgruppe Soziologie |
DDC classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 30 Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie / 302 Soziale Interaktion |
License (German): | CC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International |