On the other side of the spectrum, Denis Diderot was a supporter of equal rights for all. He believed that the inequity shown towards women derived from society’s treatment towards them such as legal subordination and poor education. He was an outspoken philosopher who strongly supported what he believed and was not afraid to rebut any other theorists whose ideas opposed his. Many believe that Diderot’s support for women’s activism for rights originated from his love for them. He is known to have had many close relationships with aspiring female philosophers and writers of the time, two of the most famous being Sophie Volland and Empress Catherine the II of Russia. There are many letters, known to date, between Sophie Volland and Diderot,…show more content… He was not a political philosopher who discussed the rights of individuals instead, he wrote more about personal and social subjects. Kant believed that sexuality is difficult outside of marriage, which always leads to objectification. He defined objectification as the subjugation of a person to the significance of an object. Immanuel Kant declared humanity as ‘an individual's rational nature and capacity for rational choice’. Humanity is what defines us humans; it is what makes the difference between the living and inanimate objects. Once a person has been deprived of humanity, they are considered equivalent to a lifeless object. Kant believed the objectification was possible among men and women, but most commonly women, where it arose in situations such as women kept as concubines and prostitution. Immanuel Kant believed in circumstances like these, women were objectified by men and their limitless desire. Kant defined prostitution as the offering for a profit of one's self for another's sexual gratification. Kant believed that the only relationship between a man and woman where there was no objectification and both were sexually equally was marriage. Strangely enough, he never did marry. Immanuel Kant made few remarks on his views about women’s education. Yet there is one quote by him that conveys his limited beliefs quite well, “[Scholarly women] use their books somewhat like a watch, that is, they wear the watch so it can be noticed that they have one, although it is usually broken or does not show the correct time.” A lot can be inferred from this quote, in some ways it can be perceived that Immanuel Kant is being passive in his tone about women reaching for acceptance in intellectual society. He makes the accusation that women are trying to fit into an intellectual society and obtain the same moral equality as men, even though they
