Aristotle's views on women

Aristotle's views on women are derived from his political theory, psychology, and biology, which together establish a unified hierarchical system. Across the Politics, Rhetoric, Nicomachean Ethics and Generation of Animals, he posits women as possessing deliberative reason but lacking authority, legitimizing their subordination to male rule within the household and polis. He frames women as biologically passive, contributing nutritive material while males provide formative semen, embedding sex hierarchy in a natural order. Some scholars argue women should exercise practical wisdom (phronēsis) in domestic roles, yet Aristotle excludes them from civic deliberation. His views, reflecting ancient Greek patriarchy, justified women's inferiority, influencing medieval and modern gender debates.

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