Abstract

In the _Republic_, Plato famously admits women into the guardian class and expects them to have the same education as men. The question arises as to what sort of argument Aristotle thought suitable for women. Although the rational capacities of women are not mentioned in the _NE_, the issue does arise in the _Politics_. According to one widespread interpretation, women have similar rational capacities to men, but their deliberation is overpowered by emotion, rendering them essentially incontinent. Against this interpretation, I argue that Aristotle thought women’s rational capacity limited in a different way. The problem he has in mind here is not incontinence. Rather, they are able to deliberate well at the individual level and in the household, but not in the political sphere. But this means they would still benefit from rational discussion about _eudaimonia_ and about most of the topics covered in the _NE_.