Including Transgender Identities in Natural Law

Bibliographic Data

ID22109196
AuthorsKurt Blankschaen (Daemen College, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume10
Issue0
Publication date2023-11-17
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueErgo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2330-4014 • E-ISSN: 2330-4014
PublisherUniversity of Michigan Library (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3998/ergo.4648
OpenAlexW4388753381
LanguageEN
References cited47

There is an emerging consensus within Natural Law that explains transgender identity as an “embodied misunderstanding.” The basic line of argument is that our sexual identity as male or female refers to our possible reproductive roles of begetting or conceiving. Since these two possibilities are determined early on by the presence or absence of a Y chromosome, our sexual identity cannot be changed or reassigned. I develop an argument from analogy, comparing gender and language, to show that this consensus is premature. Language and gender imbue our body with further social meaning and so, I conclude, that just as we can learn multiple languages, so too can we learn multiple genders. Since language and gender each constitutively contribute to our wellbeing as a “second nature,” I argue against this consensus to show that the reason people who are transgender struggle to flourish is not because of a “troubled trans psyche,” but because there are conceptual, interpersonal, and institutional obstacles stacked against them

Aesthetics · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Human sexuality · Interpersonal communication · Natural law · Psyche · Psychoanalysis · Sexual identity · Sociology · Transgender · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Gender Studies · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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